The Real and the Counterfeit OLIVE A. RAINEY          In passing one of our national banks the other day, my attention was arrested by the display in the window of what appeared to be two one-dollar bills. On closer inspection, I found that one of these bills was a counterfeit, the other being authorized legal tender, and the bank officials had taken pains to indicate very definitely the points of difference between the two. At first glance they seemed to me to be exactly alike in every detail, except the number, but as I compared them point by point I began to wonder how it could be that I had not at once seen the marked difference between the two. I turned away from the window feeling sure that I should not be caught by the counterfeits, for by acquainting myself with the detail of the true bill I had learned to distinguish the marks of the counterfeit. I had learned that however much these counterfeits might appear to be like the true, they were not money; therefore the claim to be money was absolutely worthless.          Continuing my way along the street, there came to my thought the lesson that we as Christian Scientists are everyday brought face to face with the real and the counterfeit, in one form or another, and it is for us to be so alert that we may clearly discern between the true and the false. When a belief of sickness asserts itself, its reality seems unquestionable so long as thought is permitted to flow in that channel; but as soon as thought is turned away from materiality to man's spiritual selfhood, the falsity of the claim becomes at once apparent, as in the case of the counterfeit bill. It follows that the light of truth dispels the darkness of error and reveals its nothingness.          A poor counterfeit is more readily distinguished than one which is more cleverly executed, and it is therefore less dangerous. So in Christian Science the more glaring errors of sickness and gross sin may be readily discerned and oftentimes immediately destroyed; but even as it is the better disguised counterfeits which find their way into circulation and are overlooked, so it is that the more subtle forms of error are permitted to circulate, unless we are ever vigilant that our standard may fall nothing short of the high demands of Truth.          Those who are accustomed to handle much money, and who have been trained to know absolutely the authorized "coin of the realm," are not the ones who suffer from the circulation of spurious currency. The bank clerks pass a counterfeit back to the would-be depositor almost immediately. In case of the coin, they oftentimes perceive its worthlessness by the sense of touch alone. The only explanation of this is that they know the true coin; and any deviation in a coin from that standard proves it to be a counterfeit. We thus see that the more conscientiously we obey the injunction to "acquaint now thyself with him [God]" the less will we be liable to accept as real any of the counterfeits which error is ever presenting for our acceptance. The danger of any counterfeit lies solely in the fact that it is not recognized for what it is. When, however, its lack of identity is established, it ceases to inspire fear. Mrs. Eddy says (Science and Health, p. 297), "Erroneous belief is destroyed by truth. Change the evidence, and that disappears which before seemed real to this false belief." A scientific understanding of Truth is the only safeguard against error of any sort.   "The Real and the Counterfeit" by Olive A. Rainey Christian Science Sentinel, March 8, 1913

 

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