On this program Hugh W. St. Onge of Bangor, Maine, told of his own experience, as follows:

I suppose you'd describe my problem as acute self-consciousness. It began when I was a boy. This was not the ordinary shyness of a growing boy, but a painful state of embarrassment in the presence of other people. I remember that once I stayed after school every night for a whole month rather than get up and recite a piece before my classmates. Furthermore, I didn't outgrow this abnormal state as the years went by, and I continued to avoid everything that called attention to myself.

When I reached young manhood, I wanted very much to take an active part in lodge work. But this agonizing self-consciousness kept me from it. It looked as if I was doomed to sit on the side lines, keeping myself well in the background. But that was all before Christian Science came into my life.

As a result of a healing which my wife had of tuberculosis, I became a student of this Science. For the first time I began to know God, to trust Him, and to depend upon His loving care. I learned that because God made man in His own image and likeness, as the Bible says, my real selfhood must be spiritual, courageous, and fearless.

Gradually a distinct change took place in my thinking. The old feeling of embarrassment began to disappear, and a new feelling of self-assurance took its place. The first test of my new confidence came when I was asked to usher at a public gathering. Looking through "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," I found a very helpful and challenging statement by Mary Baker Eddy. She writes (p. 385), "Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself." I hung on to this thought, knowing that God would sustain me. A short time before I could not have endured standing up in front of a group of people, but with much gratitude I found that now I was able to do so without fear. This so encouraged me that I began to take an active part in lodge work and over a period of time filled a number of lodge offices. I was healed of the old suffering and self-consciousness and entered into other activities which brought me before the public as well.

This practical proof of the effectiveness of God's support and help has meant much to me through the years.

The commentary was as follows:

What a helpful lesson there is for all of us in your experience, Mr. St. Onge! We certainly appreciate your telling us about it.

It's a wonderful thing to have practical proof in daily life of God's goodness and ever-present help. And, of course, the first step is to start with right motives—with the honest desire to express more of God's qualities, to bear witness to man's God-given nature. The effective way to overcome character limitations of any kind is to start from this standpoint.

Friends, perhaps some of you also find yourselves hampered in business or social relationships by some limitation such as shyness, bad temper, or a feeling of inadequacy. Let's discuss how such traits can be eliminated. Christian Science shows how this can be done by gaining a better understanding of God and man's relationship to Him.

As Mr. St. Onge told us, the Bible describes man as created in the image and likeness of God. Interpreting this statement in the light of Christian Science, we see that all the attributes of God are reflected by man—made in God's likeness. What are some of these attributes? From the Bible we learn that God's attributes include perfection, completeness, wisdom, and dominion. Therefore we realize that such character traits as sensitiveness, shyness, and the feelling of inadequacy are no part of man's real nature. Since we do not accept these limitations for God, we should not accept them for ourselves.

In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy tells us (p. 258), "The human capacities are enlarged and perfected in proportion as humanity gains the true conception of man and God." As we look to God instead of to material personality and recognize the unlimited intelligence, composure, and ability which man possesses as His image and likeness, we see our true capacities as Christian Science reveals them. The Bible gives a good illustration of this in the story of Moses. He was divinely appointed to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt and to teach them. When he learned of his important mission, Moses felt inadequate. At first he was fearful and uncertain. He replied, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." To this came the answer, "Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say."

And so Moses won the victory over limitation and doubt. He proved that man has God-given ability to overcome obstacles. His human limitations disappeared as he learned to utilize divine wisdom and strength. In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says (p. 200), "Moses advanced a nation to the worship of God in Spirit instead of matter, and illustrated the grand human capacities of being bestowed by immortal Mind."

Christ Jesus recognized God as the ever-available source of strength and ability. He said, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do." Christian Science teaches us to understand and rely upon our God-given capacities as Jesus did. We then see that limitations exist only in the human mind. In the light of spiritual understanding these limitations disappear.

Let me illustrate this point. A beautiful painting which is not properly cared for soon acquires a heavy coating of dust and grime which obscures the delicate colors and outlines. The fact that its beauty is hidden from all who look upon this painting does not mean the beauty isn't there. As proper cleaning uncovers the real beauty of the painting, so the teachings of Christian Science reveal to us the unlimited capacities which man truly possesses because he is made in God's image. We find that our human capacities are increased as we begin to think of man as spiritual, the unlimited son of God.

And so you and I can turn away from limiting, material views of man. Step by step we can replace the thoughts of man as frail, incomplete, unfriendly, inadequate—replace them with the deeper understanding of man's divine nature. By prayerful efforts to know God better and express His qualities in our daily life, we can gain a clearer vision of the divine intelligence and ability, the strength and completeness and love which truly belong to man. When we rely on these God-given resources, personal limitations begin to drop away and our true character comes to light.

As Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (p. 203), "Spiritual perception brings out the possibilities of being, destroys reliance on aught but God, and so makes man the image of his Maker in deed and in truth."

The musical selection on this program was Hymn No. 88 from the Christian Science Hymnal (Gracious Spirit, dwell with me).