Editorial May 16, 1970 Issue

What Motivates You?

William Milford Correll

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.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

What Motivates You?

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access