Have you ever played with an Etch-A-Sketch®? I did when I was a kid.
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| Image from How Stuff Works |
It was very liberating for bumbling, yet aspiring artists, because whenever a mistake was made, one could shake the apparatus, erase the whole picture and start over again. There was no record of past errors. Yay!
I thought recently about how Christian Science has the same effect for humans struggling with past mistakes, errors and poor judgment.
The human mind has a devastating tendency to cling to a mortal past. It bemoans mistakes, wrestles with regrets, grieves over lost opportunity, replays and feeds resentments, stores anger, and nourishes self-pity. Not realizing the error of all belief in mortal existence in the first place, it stays stuck in a mortal point of view, and keeps trying to fix it, live with it or accept it as unchangeable.
This is not easy, because it’s not really doable. To reason rightly, one has to start with Spirit.
Trying to cope with a mortal ugly past is like drawing on an Etch-A-Sketch®, but constantly making mistakes and trying to fix them by going back and redrawing the picture. Soon you have a major mess. Nothing looks right.
There is only one solution.
You have to shake the screen, restore the surface to a clean slate, and start over from the beginning.
Christian Science starts over from the beginning. It does not try to fix a mortal past, because God’s child does not have a mortal past to fix. God’s child has an immortal heritage to accept, enjoy and live today!
A mortal has a sinful past, but an immortal has a sinless present. Which are you living out today?
If struggling with a mortal past, it’s time to shake your Etch-A-Sketch®. Shake up your thinking—and get it squared away with Truth. Then permanent freedom is found.
Be sure you’re drawing the right picture today, the picture that God’s hand traces through your life of purity, selfless love, giving and generosity, caring and sharing, and you’ll have a most enjoyable experience, indeed.
“For right reasoning there should be but one fact before the thought, namely, spiritual existence.” Mary Baker Eddy (S&H 492:3)
Hard to believe it has taken a CSist THIS long to blog about erasing mistakes on that beloved childhood toy — and give it a spiritual twist!
Very clever. Rings true.
It was good of you to obey the trademark rule about putting the “R” in a circle (registered) after each mention of the product. Truth-tellers don’t skirt the law!
Excellent point about including the “R” indicating a registered trademark. How important it is for us also to see that “R” beside our own name, as Registered products of Divine Mind. It’s so easy to slip back and see ourselves and others as cheap imitations, easily broken and poor quality knockoffs of the original. As we grow closer to God, keep our thought focused on Him and understand that we are the image of the “Original” we can claim our real perfection.
Wonderful thoughts Evan. Thank you!
Excellent point about including the “R” indicating a registered trademark. How important it is for us also to see that “R” beside our own name, as Registered products of Divine Mind. It’s so easy to slip back and see ourselves and others as cheap imitations, easily broken and poor quality knockoffs of the original. As we grow closer to God, keep our thought focused on Him and understand that we are the image of the “Original” we can claim our real perfection.
Wonderful thoughts Evan. Thank you!
Outstanding analogy. I love it!
Elaine in Virginia
SHAKE-A-SHAKE-A-SHAKE-A!!
Love it!!
Another one I like:
Why struggle to ‘make’ 2+2=5 work? How can it?
Stickin’ with the Facts makes lots more sense!
We can do this, for our divine intelligence is impelling us to so do! Whew!!!
Sue
Great, great post, but (in the comments) I’m pretty sure there’s no longer a law or requirement that others (besides the company) include a copyright symbol or registered trademark symbol for a product. (Newspapers never do it anymore; often magazines don’t either.) Companies do it to protect their copyright and/or registration so they have legal grounds to sue someone infringing their copyright. But the analogy was excellent. I’m getting a lot to think about from both of these ideas. Thank you!