CONCLUSIONS SERVE NO PURPOSE Anthony Whitehouse CS The human mind is addicted to the process of drawing conclusions. It is permanently coming to conclusions about things. It examines a set of circumstances , say for example, the print-out of a bank account, and comes to the conclusion “ I am poor”. It wakes in the morning feeling slightly weak and concludes “ I am sick”. But look at the root definition of the word conclusion “ to shut completely” and you will immediately understand that you are looking at the very important driver of finite thinking. After all , a conclusion brings you to the point of finity where all other eventualities are ruled out. You may ask “ Why is this a problem ?” After all we come to conclusions all the time about things. But look at the mind of God and ask yourself: Can this perfect mind that knows no error do anything other than observe a state of permanent perfection ? Surely the mind of God does not come to conclusions about things because , for this Mind, being is eternally perfect ? Unfortunately the human mind , being time-bound , and operating with the confines of apparent finity, is always getting caught up in a process of making observations and then drawing conclusions from them. From example, this mind , surveying the history of various family members will realize that all the males of the family have suffered strokes and then come to the conclusion that “ the same thing is likely to happen to me”. Oddly, the problem is not just with the information being processed but all with the whole gamut of drawing conclusions. The human mind is always processing information being generated by the five physical senses and drawing conclusions from that evidence. Both picking-up on false evidence and drawing conclusions are errors to be avoided. If Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy were successful healers it was because they refused to come to conclusions on that basis. In fact, I think it would be fair to say, that Jesus never came to conclusions about anything. He simply observed the divine creation, the Mind of God and realized that in this Mind “ the entire being is found harmonious and eternal” S&H 392. That was his reality and the quality of his vision healed. If he did come to a conclusion it would have been that the five physical senses were absolutely not a reliable source of truth and the divine status. Mrs Eddy saw this activity as the very Science of the Divine Mind. In this manner we see that this whole process of coming to conclusions about the relative states of human affairs is a complete waste of time. There a myriads of different conclusions being offered up every day on the basis of illusory human evidence. How often does someone in their so-called latter years come to the conclusion that that “ they are getting fragile in their old age” or someone who has not slept well come to the conclusion that they are going to be tired during the day ? The point about the “conclusion” process is that it is spiritually illegitimate. Since Being is God and Life if eternal there can be no conclusion to anything, just eternal blissful being. I have found this truth particularly helpful in dealing with so-called difficult interpersonal relationships. In the end, how legitimate can it be to come to the conclusion that someone is difficult, unloving, self-centered or lazy ? It is certainly not an observation that is made by the divine Mind.
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 14:08:50 +0000