A Few Rules

Ella W. Hoag

All Christian Scientists desire to demonstrate their unity with God, good,—to find their real selfhood. In order to do this it goes without saying that there must be a continual work of purifying—the rejection and relinquishment of evil beliefs—going on in their consciousness. In all Christian Science churches each Sunday we hear John's statement: "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." The question naturally follows: What, then, is the specific method of rejection and relinquishment?

One simple rule is: The instant a thought knocks at our door and is seen as error, it should be denied and refused entrance. It may begin to argue as though it were already within, but, if we are on guard, we can always speak with authority to an error which we have not been indulging. We can insist it is not within; we can know definitely that it does not belong to our consciousness and has no entity, intelligence, or power to claim to be there. If this is insisted upon, and the door kept shut to the belief that the error is ours, or that it is real, we shall be able to cling to the truth which has shown us the error as error and so to prove its unreality; for one can never see evil as evil unless the truth of that situation has first been discerned. The truth which has uncovered the error is always at hand to rebuke and to destroy the error.

So long as an evil of any sort is not indulged, however arrogant or detestable it may claim to be, we may reject it from the standpoint that since it does not belong to God it therefore cannot belong to us as the children of God. Even if we have seemed to indulge an error of belief by permitting it to hold sway in our thinking until it has apparently governed our word or act, we can even then refuse to admit that it is ours, if we are willing to condemn and renounce it. It is only when we are unwilling to condemn an evil that we must see ourselves as the sinner, and that the sinner and the sin are one and inseparable. Take, for instance, the claim of some form of self-will. Suppose we see that the thought we are indulging is a self-willed one; if we are unwilling to examine it in the light of Truth and recognize it for just what it is, if unwilling to rebuke and renounce it, we shall probably go on cherishing that sin until suffering awakens us to its false nature. The test of our right mental attitude is always this: Are we willing to let the light of Truth in to show us whether the thought is of God, good, or of evil? Every problem worked out along this line will open the door for the solving of many another. It is the use of right mental activity which advances spiritual growth. Mental inaction tends to mesmerize and stupefy, and should be always guarded against.

Another harmful tendency is to view things from the standpoint of self. Much contemplation of self, either as good or otherwise, will bring about a distorted mentality, and it will be impossible to see anything clearly. Look away from self to Truth and Love; than we shall gain a correct mental perspective, which will show things clearly and justly, and progress will follow. Take, for instance, a pupil in arithmetic: If he spends his time thinking about how he is doing the examples,—of how little he knows, and of how difficult his problems are, of how apt he is to fail, or even of how well he may be working,—if he spends his time thus, he will rarely accomplish his task. On the other hand, if he thinks of the rule, delights in the solving of the problems according to the rule,—in other words, if he forgets self and loves his work,—everything is much more likely to progress properly. Let us keep, therefore, before us our dear Leader's admonition, which she has given us in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 155), "Forget self in laboring for mankind." Let us take this lesson to heart and reap the rich fruitage which must come therefrom. A student who is awake to the necessity of self-forgetfulness is on the way to wonderful victories; while one who is constantly thinking of self and its problems will be apt to find the way long and wearisome, even though he may be striving to use the letter ever so faithfully.

It is the grace of God that must be shed abroad in our hearts if we are to shine "as the stars for ever and ever." John tells us that "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Let us pray for this spirit of the Christ, that the letter of our work be not of the nature that killeth. One kind deed, one loving thought put into practice, is more potent than all the declarations of truth we could make which have not the spirit of love back of them. We, however, need not fear. God, divine Love, is always at hand, and if we are His willing servants He will lead us ever gently forward; if, instead, we are His halting, resistant ones, He will force us forward. Forward! March! ! is His law for the soldiers in His line of battle, and we cannot escape. He will finally lead us all into the heaven of His government, "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

Ella W. Hoag.

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The Aim of the Christian Scientist

May 6, 1922

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