One of the persistent mistaken beliefs that plague people is that there is pleasure in matter. Time after time mortals yield to this belief, and time after time the result is disappointment and regret. If one accepts its more aggressive, forms, such as gluttony, smoking, alcoholic drinking, idolizing the body, and sensuality, the lie of pleasure in matter can result in mesmeric bondage that leads to suffering and despair.

Those with an enlightened sense of right may desire to turn from this enslavement but often don't know how. One attempts to stop but finds he can't. Willpower is tried, but there is no victory. What can one do?

Christ Jesus gave us the answer. His Sermon on the Mount includes this inspiring beatitude (Matt. 5:8): "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." As one understands, cultivates, and practices purity, he becomes aware of the presence of God, good, and the inclination to believe in pleasure in matter disappears.

Christian Science shows that the correct starting point for all right, pure thinking is the understanding that God, divine Mind, is the only cause and creator and that man, made in His image, is perfect, spiritual, and therefore immune to false, erroneous beliefs. This man of God's creating —one's real identity—can have only pure thoughts, because all his thoughts come from God, the one pure Mind.

Understanding this enables one to see that impure thoughts, which relate pleasure to matter, have no real source, no real existence. Therefore they can be denied as unreal. As one refuses to admit their validity, they disappear for want of acceptance.

In striving for purity, one needs to hold thought fast to that which is good, persistently to entertain "angels," which are defined on page 581 of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy as, "God's thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality."

The lying suggestions of error are contrary to good, God and hence without power or intelligence. If one is conscious of man's high estate as God's son, these cannot influence him or cause him to fall. What a glorious victory is won as bondage-producing thoughts are replaced with God's pure angels!

But the conquest is usually not won without a fight, and sometimes the struggle may seem severe. Persistent effort is needed to reject error's false arguments and to cling to purity. Sometimes the first step in the subjugation of the false, pleasurable suggestion is the subduing of it by the refusal to give it power.

In this connection, the following advice by Mrs. Eddy is pertinent: "Until one is able to prevent bad results, he should avoid their occasion" (Science and Health, p. 329). Through continued earnest striving, complete victory will surely result. It is helpful to remember that the belief of pleasure in matter is merely the futile effort of the carnal mind to perpetuate itself by enticing one to accept its attractive lies. A subtle lie that sometimes tempts one who is not alert is the belief that there can be a sense of pleasure in the relating of an unclean story or anecdote. A young Christian Scientist who had progressed to the point where off-color jokes were distasteful to him found himself disturbed by frequently having to listen to his associates tell them. After trying unsuccessfully to avoid such occasions, he resolved to meet the issue squarely and to take his stand on the side of purity.

Before long an associate asked if he had heard a certain story and implied his readiness to tell it. The young man replied that he had not and would be glad to hear it, if it were clean. This rebuke to impurity had its immediate effect, and the story was never told. More important, the stand taken proved to be a deterrent against the further telling of stories of this kind. The value of taking a firm stand against error's pleasurable claims had been demonstrated.

Anyone with the desire to be good and do right can, through the understanding of God's presence and power, begin to conquer the lie of pleasure in matter and to express more dearly the Christly quality of purity. The reward of so doing is priceless.