The red ink item of the trial balance testifies to a financial shortage. It is something that the business man never likes to see, and he at once busies humself to discover and to correct the cause. He works diligently and persistently to turn the scales in the opposite direction, so as to show a balance on the side of profit instead of loss; and when this has been accomplished he is looked upon as successful.

So he may be from the material point of view, but what of mental conditions? Has this sober-headed business man stopped to consider his obligations to the Giver of all good? to balance his account with God, the infinite all-inclusive Mind of the universe? Has he stopped long enough to ascertain that there is a red ink item opposite his name just so long as he fails to acquaint himself with God? that there is, in other words, a mental deficit for which he alone is responsible and which he alone can liquidate? This mental deficit is chargeable to all mortals until they turn away from matter to Spirit or Mind as the sum and substance of being. Their belief in matter, whether as good or bad, indicates a mental lack, "for to be carnally [materially] minded is death." The psalmist must have realized this when he said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."

Our revered Leader says: "Material and temporal thoughts are human, involving error, and since God, Spirit, is the only cause, they lack a divine cause" (Science and Health, p. 286). The mentality of a mortal is not fully equipped for usefulness until it has been corrected by the understanding of divine Truth and, rejecting the evidence of the physical senses, is in harmonious accord with spiritual sense, which always judges righteous judgment. God's correction does not rob a mortal of his mind, rather does it acquaint him with the great metaphysical fact that God is the one infinite Mind or intelligence of the universe, and that for him to lay claim to any other mind, a so-called mind that can be conscious of both good and evil, is to present a woeful mental lack, a lack which all the wisdom of the world is powerless to supply. What the world calls mind is little else than a counterfeit, a mortal or carnal mentality which knows not what Mind really is. Truth's correction of this material mentality infuses into consciousness a degree of spiritual activity which is soon found to be the savior from all that is unlike God. Were it not for this influx of spirituality, even their improved mentality could never save men from belief in sin, disease, and death, for the mortal or carnal mentality is incapable of knowing anything that is spiritually true. It always shows a balance on the wrong side. Paradoxical as it may seem, it is an "unbalanced mind" with no ability ever to become balanced; hence its need of a savior.

The Christ is the Saviour of men because Christ, Truth, always supplies whatever is lacking in individual consciousness. As the true or scientifically correct idea of God, it does away with every inaccurate or perverted concept of cause and effect, creator and creation. Obviously, this true idea is not born of matter or of a material mentality. It is always "from above," not "from beneath." Until Christ, Truth, comes to the individual there is palpably a mental deficit of which no human being ought to be proud. This mental deficiency may be called by a thousand different names. Science defines it as the uncorrected or unenlightened human or mortal mind, which is identical with the Biblical "carnal mind." If a mortal is envious, hateful, or resentful, he evidences a mental lack. This is proven when through the understanding of infinite Mind he loses his sinful thoughts and begins to express godlike qualities. If he is diseased in mind or body, Truth supplies the deficiency with spiritual understanding.

Material sense never yet balanced one's account with God. It is not an agent of God through which to convey intelligence or power to man. God requires something more substantial than "a vagary of mortal belief" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 200), by which to communicate Himself to His child. It is not by means of material sense, but by discrediting its testimony, that mortals "draw nigh to God." Jesus said, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." These words have a profound meaning to the student of Christian Science. To the extent that he is not forsaking materiality mentally and morally, he knows that his mentality is not being scientifically corrected, and that the only remedy which will enable him to get closer to God is spiritually mental. When he turns with his whole heart to the one Mind, he finds himself identified with that "innumerable company of angels" whose only mission on earth is to reveal the character of God, good; thereby filling every human vacuum, supplying every mental lack. If these pure and holy thoughts cannot be trusted to govern and supply every human activity, what can humanity expect from a blind faith in mindless, non-intelligent matter?

The only normal mentality is the one that trusts and obeys God's law implicitly. Such a mentality at the present hour is an oasis in the desert of mortal existence. Its activity for good is unlimited. It thinks from the standpoint of Principle, contending unceasingly for the reality of good. It takes no chances on the side of error. It always thinks of God first, and never seeks to have its own way. It makes religion practical and available in every-day affairs. It never loses sight of the rights of others, but obeys the golden rule. It is the enemy of sensuality in its varied forms, and the friend of all that is pure and holy. No human being can be or should be truly satisfied until he has acquired a mentality that is dead to the besetments of sin and alive to the activities of righteousess; until he can say with the apostle, "Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men."

The mentality that places good and evil on a par, that believes in two powers, that advocates the reality of both Mind and matter, Life and death, represents a balance on the side of loss, and is the so-called fallen man or "man of sin" that Christian effort is trying in vain to save. When "the Lord our righteousness" is allowed to dominate individual consciousness, this "man of sin" is put off, and the Christ-man is revealed as the only man and forever in at-one-ment with Truth. Then is mentality the reflection of the one Mind, and "complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power."

Copyright, 1913, by The Christian Science Publishing Society.