Very dear Friend,

         PERHAPS, AS A CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST you have heard the term, “personal sense.” You may have wondered what it meant. It is possible you may have heard someone talking about a very angry misunderstanding between two friends that included unkind accusations and caused great hostility between them. Those watching as the conflict evolved, may have commented that they were both being handled by “personal-sense”. I often wondered how to define this term “personal-sense.” What did it mean?

Gradually, in thinking about it, I felt that it referred to those mortal emotions that everyone seems to have: fear, anger, jealously, hatred, self-righteousness, self-will, self-justification, disappointment, disillusionment, discouragement __ all the emotions that cause us to react with anger to any unkind treatment we receive from others, and we feel we do not deserve such abuse. As we react with negative emotions, we may ourselves have a bad case of personal sense.

I have found in dealing with my own personal sense that when I practice forgiveness, I can rise above anger and resentment, and then my own negative emotions do not become part of the problem. Forgiveness prevents us from wallowing in self-pity and resentment, and we are not deeply affected by the words and acts of others.

I remember, many years ago, talking with a very experienced Christian Scientist about a relationship I had with someone who did not have a very kind attitude toward others, and I seemed to be especially offensive to her. My kindness and effort to win her as a friend was useless and her criticism of all that I said and did was so strong that I was at a loss as to how to deal with it.

My friend, the Scientist, told me, “She may never change, but love her anyway.” And so I remained kind and loving to her and she didn’t change. Through this I gradually learned to forgive and this has saved me in many challenging situations when I would have seemed very justified in yielding to anger and self-righteousness in the challenges I have had to face over the years. It is now easy for me to rise above my own personal-sense and forgive and forget. Forgiving and forgetting an unloving remark or unkind treatment from others gives us dominion over mortal mind.

So little is said or written about personal sense in Christian Science, yet we need to address the emotions linked to it and rise above them into a better understanding of divine Love where forgiveness becomes a very natural habit in handling personal sense. It is a great accomplishment when we can forgive like this. 

Considering the very stirred condition of our world today, it is a rare moment when we find someone who has learned to use the peaceful talent of forgiveness and is not embroiled in the endless confrontations going on. We may not agree with many of these conflicts, but as my friend said, “They may never change, but love them anyway.” Why punish yourself if they will not agree to do what you think they should do? Surely forgiveness would be a more spiritual answer than anger over the deeply stirred state of our country today.

When we love our enemies we rise above the mortal conflicts taking place and we find peace and a better understanding of God, for we are reflecting divine Love.

If you would like a strong and practical analysis regarding the emotions, I recommend my book, The Law of Love. 

I would also like to recommend Primary Class Notes of Cornelia Church. 

There was no date on these notes when they came in to The Bookmark, but they seem to have been written some time ago and are so inspiring and original. So many friends I talk with have said that they got so little from their class teaching. It does seem that a short 8 day course of such deep metaphysics requires more than a week to absorb. These notes will enable you to “go through class” once again. The orderly way in which the subjects are presented and backed up with many references from our Leader’s writings puts together an outstanding learning experience. With these notes to refer to, you will have time to think before going on to the next subject. 

I first read these notes months ago. When I read them again recently, I still recall the strong feeling I had of God creating and governing the universe through the unfoldment of His ideas and the power of His presence. Her discussion of the synonyms is very memorable. I highly recommend these notes as a good example of class teaching.

__________________________________________

TO SEARCH OUR WEBSITE FOR OTHER BOOKS AND TRANSCRIPTS BY TITLE OR AUTHOR  

 CLICK HERE

The Bookmark provides the variety of Christian Science material it has today due to the vision and support of loyal Christian Scientists throughout the world. If you have Christian Science material you wish to share with the world through the Bookmark please contact us.

 of any amount

 please call me or 

Click here

Even if you do not have to have a PayPal account you can use your credit or debit card through PayPal. 

PayPal protects your financial information with industry-leading security and fraud prevention systems. When you use PayPal, your financial information is not shared with the merchant. Once your payment is complete, you will be emailed a receipt for this transaction.

 Perhaps you would be willing to support our efforts by joining me in praying daily for The Bookmark. This truly helps in finding a way to distribute these publications throughout the Field and inspire those students seeking a better understanding of Christian Science. These publications can inspire the thought in the Field and enable us all to do better healing work.

You are welcome to call me at 800-220-7767 any week-day morning from 9:00A.M. to 1:00 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, or write:

The Bookmark, Post Office Box 801143, Santa Clarita, CA 91380

I look forward to hearing from you! Thank you for taking the time to read my message.

With warm friendship and great respect ,

Ann Beals