HOST: Take a bad disposition; the person who has one would probably give a million dollars to get rid of it. And those around him would probably be glad to raise the money! I don't suppose anything mars the joy and beauty of life so much as the traits of character that make up a bad disposition. Marriages and businesses have failed because of stubbornness, temper, deceitfulness, procrastination, moodiness.

One aspect of a bad disposition is that it's often expressed in annoying habits of one kind or another. By way of justification people often protest that that's just the way they are, and they feel they can't do anything about it.

But an article in Cosmopolitan magazine brought out some arresting thoughts on this subject. The author, John Keating, spoke of habits as "standardized ways of responding to a situation." He said a habit is a "stand-in for a more basic problem." He described such types of behavior as "techniques, physical, mental, or emotional, which we have either stumbled on or learned through trial and error as a means of handling a problem."

Well, all this throws an interesting light on the question of a bad disposition. What would you say about it?

SPEAKER: I'd say the author's on the right track when he says that what needs to be corrected is something much deeper than just a bad habit or a bad disposition. But whatever it is, the greatest need is to gain an understanding of what God is and what man is as His offspring—what man's real nature is. This understanding brings to light the divine power that transforms and regenerates human character.

You know, the story of Jacob in the Bible illustrates this regeneration, as we understand it in Christian Science. Because Esau was older, he was heir to a number of special privileges. Jacob coveted what rightly belonged to his brother and was willing to resort to deception and trickery in order to get it. He plotted to gain his brother's birthright and his father's blessing. At this point Esau had had enough, and he decided to kill his brother. To save his life, Jacob escaped into exile.

Years later, God commanded Jacob to return home. On the way a transforming experience came to him:

Then, you may remember, as the sun rose, Jacob saw Esau, his brother, coming toward him with four hundred men. Jacob ran to meet him, and the two brothers had a joyful reunion. This time Jacob saw his brother in a very different light. As he told Esau (Gen. 33: 10), "I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me."

HOST: What do you feel this story of Jacob brings out?

SPEAKER: Well, it shows us how Jacob overcame those faults of disposition that plagued him. We're told he saw "God face to face." Doesn't this mean that Jacob glimpsed the nature of God as never before? He must have gained a new view of the perfect Mind, or Spirit, our real Father, and of the sinless nature of man. This inspired understanding naturally brings a new view of man as the perfect expression of the divine nature. It enabled Jacob to let go of the sinful traits that had bound him.

In discussing this episode in Jacob's life, Mary Baker Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 309): "The result of Jacob's struggle thus appeared. He had conquered material error with the understanding of Spirit and of spiritual power. This changed the man. He was no longer called Jacob, but Israel,—a prince of God, or a soldier of God, who had fought a good fight."

HOST: You could say the experience brought a change in Jacob's disposition.

SPEAKER: Yes, it went to the very heart of the problem. And it not only changed his nature but enabled him to see his brother in a different light. In fact, it purified his concept of all those around him, and he became a great patriarch.

HOST: But what is it that produces such a change in character?

SPEAKER: Well, it's the power of the ever-present healing Christ, Truth, which Jesus, the Master, expressed so fully. As we read in Science and Health (p. 333): "Throughout all generations both before and after the Christian era, the Christ, as the spiritual idea,—the reflection of God,—has come with some measure of power and grace to all prepared to receive Christ, Truth. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets caught glorious glimpses of the Messiah, or Christ, which baptized these seers in the divine nature, the essence of Love." Jesus showed forth with grace and glory the power of the Christ and demonstrated this power. We see its transforming effect in the changed lives of the disciples—Simon Peter, for instance—and in the regenerated life of Mary Magdalene.

The same power of the Christ is present now to transform and purify. What we have to do is to open our hearts, let this divine light shine in our lives, learn to understand God, yield our thoughts and actions to the control of the divine power.

The experience of a woman who lives in the Los Angeles area illustrates what we've been saying.

HOST: She says that when she was first married her relatives and friends often accused her of being domineering and bossy. This matter of disposition had been a problem in her childhood. Frankly, she'd been pretty hateful and mean until she started going to the Christian Science Sunday School. The understanding of God and man that she gained had gradually produced many changes in her disposition. She became cheerful and courteous and much more helpful and understanding. Also, habits such as nailbiting and smoking dropped away.

So when this matter of bossiness came up, she talked it over with a Christian Science practitioner. For quite a while she couldn't honestly see the need for any change. Then one evening her husband mentioned that a man at work had asked him for a loan of five dollars. When she asked if he had loaned the man the money, he said, "No, I was afraid to without talking to you first."

Well, that really woke her up, and she started wondering: was she so bad that her husband was afraid to do anything without getting her approval? From then on, she was more alert to the problem. She studied the Bible and Science and Health more faithfully, and the practitioner continued to give her help through prayer.

Gradually she came to understand that divine Mind is expressed in infinite, individual ways, and she watched not to mentally manipulate her husband, not to threaten him or force her will on him. After several months he commented one day on how greatly she had changed. She was grateful for this improvement, but even more so for the increased understanding she had gained of the divine Mind.