Often people don't know why they do things. They may even say, "Now, why did I do that?" Paul spoke of involuntary action when he said, "The good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." ^{Rom. 7:19;} Only an understanding of the Science of being will answer the query and supply the truth that corrects erroneous actions. Christian Science enables one to come free of false urges and compulsions and demonstrate the harmonious law of God in human experience.

Animal magnetism, or the belief of life and intelligence in matter, is the basic error in all wrong motivation. It is the belief that one has an animal nature that may supersede his conscious mental direction or desire and influence him to act contrary to his highest ideals. Freudian psychology pictures a primitive source of instinctive energy, the id, as supplying the driving force of the individual's self-expression. One dictionary defines "id" as the "totality of impulses or instincts comprising the true unconscious mind." ^{The Grosset Webster Dictionary ;} In line with this, some individuals believe that they are helpless victims of their material instincts, and some criminals when apprehended cannot tell why they acted as they did.

Christian Science challenges this belief of unconscious mind, the belief of original sin or mind in matter. It reveals the fact that Mind is God, infinite Spirit, and that this Mind is always conscious, always governing man, the image and likeness of God. Divine Mind is omnipresent and omnipotent. Through an understanding of the perfect nature of Spirit, divine Love, and of man's relationship to this divine creative power or cause, we can progressively demonstrate this divine nature in our daily life and feel the control of omnipotent Principle in our motives and acts.

Christ Jesus is the highest example of true motivation. He knew God to be his Father, the only real cause, and he worshiped God as infinite Spirit. He came to do the will of his Father. All his acts were the result of prayer and showed the conscious control of divine Mind. Mrs. Eddy says of man, "His origin is not, like that of mortals, in brute instinct, nor does he pass through material conditions prior to reaching intelligence. Spirit is his primitive and ultimate source of being; God is his Father, and Life is the law of his being." ^{Science and Health, p. 63;}

If one worships matter as having intelligence and creative power, if he considers himself as a nerve- and brain-centered consciousness, controlled by material appetites, hereditary influences, and educated false beliefs, he will be subject to the suggestions of the carnal mind and the involuntary influences of animal magnetism. But this false mind is uncovered in Christian Science as unreal and powerless, an erroneous view of man and creation. Paul came to the realization that he need not be the victim of animal instincts. He said, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." ^{Rom. 8:2;} And he also said, "Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." ^{v. 9 ;}

The fact that there is one Mind, one Ego, is an affront to the so-called material mentality or ego, and hence the warfare between the flesh and Spirit. What one worships and obeys—either matter or Spirit—will determine the basic influences in his life and experience. Mrs. Eddy says: "The understanding that the Ego is Mind, and that there is but one Mind or intelligence, begins at once to destroy the errors of mortal sense and to supply the truth of immortal sense. This understanding makes the body harmonious ; it makes the nerves, bones, brain, etc., servants, instead of masters." ^{Science and Health, p. 216;}

In no other way can we destroy the wrong influences of the carnal mind and realize the healing power of the Christ, the true idea of man's sonship with God. Sin is often due to ignorance— ignorance of the facts of being and of man's relation to God. Christ comes as light destroying this ignorance and establishing the rights of man under the government of God. Jesus healed both sickness and sin to prove the freedom and wholeness of man as the child of God.

Right identification will help each one of us come out from under the so-called laws of sin and death. It will free us from wrong motives and animal compulsions. We can perceive the spiritual nature of man and reject the claims of animal magnetism and thus progressively establish our freedom from error and all unconscious evil influences.

As we acknowledge man as the expression of God, the divine control will permeate our whole experience, and we will demonstrate the conditions of heaven or harmony in ever greater degree. Mrs. Eddy says: "Spiritual love makes man conscious that God is his Father, and the consciousness of God as Love gives man power with untold furtherance. Then God becomes to him the All-presence —quenching sin; the All-power—giving life, health, holiness; the All-science—all law and gospel." ^{Message to The Mother Church for 1902, pp. 8, 9.}

William Milford Correll