GAINING DOMINION OVER REACTIONS

Milton Simon
In working with people over a period of years, I have noticed that their reactions to situations or to others may result in difculties, in enmities, and even in ailments. I have found too that people manifest peace and poise when they joyously accept and willingly demonstrate mans Godbestowed imperviousness to evil. From these experiences, I have learned in a measure to say quietly and rmly to myself, I do not need to react to that lying suggestion. And my conviction has been strengthened that when one understands and applies the truth of man in Gods image, he cannot be made to react unconsciously or adversely to any phase of evil. Viewing from a Christianly scientic standpoint the problem of gaining dominion over reactions, we begin with one all-inclusive Mind. This one, omni-active Mind, God, is not affected by anything external to itself because nothing is acting outside of it. Consequently, as we become conscious of our oneness with or inseparability from innite perfect Mind, we too shall express freedom from irritation. Our example is Christ Jesus, who left the world with its wrong thinking and illusions, completely out of his reckoning and declared: I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. It is evident that his strength lay in a conscious sense of his unity with God, for he said: He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. Like our Master, we should be governed by divine Love alone, whose impulsion is peaceful, restful, harmonious. In demonstrating our dominion over reactions, we do not overlook

the claim that reactions are essential. Newtons law of motion reads, For every force there is an equal and opposite force or reaction. What Newton has said about mechanics prevails quite generally in human thought. Mrs. Eddy was cognizant of this, for in writing helpfully of action, reaction, temper, friction, and equanimity, she says: We should remember that the world is wide; that there are a thousand million different human wills, opinions, ambitions, tastes, and loves; that each person has a different history, constitution, culture, character, from all the rest; that human life is the work, the play, the ceaseless action and reaction upon each other of these different atoms. And she adds, Then, we should go forth into life with the smallest expectations, but with the largest patience; with a keen relish for and appreciation of everything beautiful, great, and good, but with a temper so genial that the friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities; with an equanimity so settled that no passing breath nor accidental disturbance shall agitate or rufe it. (Miscellaneous Writings) Here the question may arise, Are all reactions voluntary? Christian Science teaches that they are. No disturbance is ever from without. No situation or person can irritate you. Only you can disturb you and then only in belief. But just as a building with no roof has no protection against dust, rain, snow, or anything in the material atmosphere, so a human consciousness that is not doing constructive, spiritual thinking has no protection against what is in the atmosphere of mortal thought. This explains why some people do things they do not intend to do. They say things they do not mean to say. In belief, they have become victims of something that is going on in mortal thought, whether it be irritation, disease, or immoral behavior. Common consent is a source of contagion not only of disease but also of other phases of mortal thought. What interests us is our superiority to errors attempt to control our thought. We can order our own lives from the basis of our inseparable unity with divine Principle, God. Now, to consider a phase of reaction stimulus: right stimulus is never absent, for Mind stimulates man. And that stimulation is harmonious and strengthening. Our Leader declares: The fact that Truth overcomes both disease and sin reassures depressed hope. It imparts a healthy stimulus to

GAINING DOMINION OVER REACTIONS the body, and regulates the system. It increases or diminishes the action, as the case may require, better than any drug, alterative, or tonic. Mind is the natural stimulus of the body, but erroneous belief, taken at its best, is not promotive of health or happiness. (Science and Health) Wrong thoughts tend to stimulate the body adversely, cause the organs to act or react discordantly, thereby giving rise to some phase of disease. In such cases, the practitioner works to calm the thought of his patient with spiritual truth. Self-will has a driving, upsetting tendency that may be disturbing to the functions and organs of the body. Self-will wants what it wants when it wants it. If it does not get it, it is apt to be disturbed. Often it is our self-will that is irritated and offended by anothers actions. As we learn to silence our will in little things, we become not only more humble but also more harmonious. Certainly to pray to God but still listen to our willful desires instead of allowing the divine inuence to change and spiritualize our thought is to retain, not destroy, self-will. The way to overcome self-will is to wait for God to move us; really to heed the Fathers voice. When we set our heart on a certain situation or possession, at the same instant we open our mental doors to possible disappointment should the desire remain unfullled. This is evils attempt to hide from us our completeness and satisfaction derived from Spirit, God. Oh, to be so removed from selsh desires and personal sense that we claim and express no will but the Fathers! This was Jesus strength and his joy too. And it can be ours. One may ask, What is my reaction to what mortal mind avers is my human past? The past is one of mortal minds ways of trying to cause dejected thoughts. Error may argue that lack of education, background, or success can limit our progress. We should remember that whatever claims to have happened in the past cannot interfere with our inherent power to recognize and demonstrate our perfect selfhood now. There is, moreover, no law of mortal mind that can repeat a moral deviation or a disease. Error is a false mesmeric claim which did not actually occur the rst time. What God did not give us what in reality we never had cannot repeat itself. Animal magnetism would like to divert our thought from truth by keeping alive what never really occurred. We must

refuse to dwell on the belief of a discordant past. Through Science we can prove that at all times and in all places we are one with alert, clear, innite intelligence, immune to retaining discord in thought. We can obey the demands of God. And the demands of God are that we be conscious of present harmony and perfection instead of an inharmonious past. Hear these immortal words of the wise man: That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. Since God requires the past, let us give it to Him. We do this by acknowledging that He has always controlled every iota of it and that error has not done what it claims. There has never been a moment when we have not been Gods perfect ideas. There has never been a moment when we have not known God as He is and our perfect selfhood as He has created it. Then there is the reaction of irritation over what others say about us. The remedy is to know that there is one Mind, which understands and approves of us, and that therefore we cannot be misunderstood. And the remedy for resenting unpleasant situations is to know that God governs and that good is unfolding despite appearances. An irritated reaction to an unpleasant situation does not lessen or heal it it merely shows that the error is still real to us. Why is it we are so disturbed when little things do not go our way? It is often a phase of egotism, which is being brought to the surface and deated at occurrences to which we thought ourselves immune. If we drop, break, or lose something, mortal mind has merely changed its sense testimony, but it cannot affect us. Incidents in the home or on the job that appear annoying are evil suggestions and would hide our spiritual selfhood derived from God, and hinder our demonstrating it. When we have removed friction-inducing errors from thought, our bodies and our experiences are certain to be harmonious. Even while we are working out our salvation here, our birthright is peace, poise, and balance. We do not need to wait until we have demonstrated perfection here to enjoy those qualities. How do we react when someone rebukes or corrects us? We shall progress by following Mrs. Eddys example in this regard. She writes: If a friend informs us of a fault, do we listen patiently to the rebuke and

GAINING DOMINION OVER REACTIONS credit what is said? Do we not rather give thanks that we are not as other men? During many years the author has been most grateful for merited rebuke. (Science and Health) Suppose we correct someone with a sincere desire to help, and the person whom we correct is resentful. What should be our attitude? Well, it is often wise in such instances not to argue, explain, or justify our part in the affair, but make certain in our own thought that no offense was intended and to leave the result with God. Then there is our reaction to failures or mistakes. This may be mortal minds way of depressing us. To succumb to this phase of thought is to aid it in accomplishing its purpose. Of course we desire the correct understanding which turns a failure or mistake into a blessing. If we err in working out a problem, we do not contribute to its solution by condemning ourselves. We correct our errors. We learn what we can from the experience, then we are in a mental position to retain the lesson gained and not dwell further on the discord. If we never attempt anything, we shall never err. But the goal of a Christian Scientist is not stagnation, nor yet the mere desire never to make a mistake. What is important is where our thought is spiritually. After all, it is always error that errs and fails. The fact is that only Truth is at work, exalting our thought above any sense of evil as personal or as real. Again, reactions often stem from some emotion or strong feeling which disturbs or agitates. Suspicion, disgust, disappointment, greed, anger, fear are emotional states. In the proportion that we know that only Truth and Love can motivate us do we demonstrate our immunity from reacting to these emotions. Certainly we do act but always from the basis of healing what appears as a discordant bodily situation or human relationship. Our endeavor is to abide in a healing consciousness. Actually, there is no reaction in Truth, in divine Love, and none in the consciousness of man, Loves likeness. The day must come too when we act only as Deity outlines. We can control not only our bodies but also our affairs through spiritually controlling our thought. In Science we exist in a state of dominion because we always have the dominion accorded man by Deity Himself. The only place we can exercise this dominion

is in our consciousness. Nothing can prevent utilization of it. Nothing can prevent our experiencing the harmonious results which inevitably accompany our exercising it. Through Christian Science we develop an understanding of the absolute unreality of evil. Enlightened and empowered by divine Mind, we think and act from the standpoint of our oneness, or unity, with God from the standpoint of the continuous unfoldment of good and of nothing else. Keeping our thought imbued with the presence and control of Almighty God, we are certain to prove our dominion over every phase of reaction.