[To be shared with children and grandchildren, especially during school-exam season: this excerpt from a CS Sentinel article by Pauline Dondale (August, 1934) entitled “Intelligence through Conscious At-one-ment with Mind” offers a cure for fear of school examinations. But beyond that, it is a primer for anyone of any age on how to become at one with Omniscience in finding the solution to any problem.]
“[P]reparation for examinations is not merely a question of remembering many facts which have been learned, but of so uplifting thought that it becomes at one with the divine consciousness in which dwells all truth. This destroys fear and the sense of limitation.
“A certain woman had a very helpful experience which may be of benefit in this respect. She was teaching in a preparatory school when, in the middle of the semester, it became necessary for her to teach geometry, which subject was foreign to her chosen field, having been studied and ‘passed’ and promptly dismissed some twenty years before. Two days were given her in which to prepare for this class. As she fingered the pages of dimly remembered theorems, a feeling very much akin to panic and discouragement assailed her. One thing was certain. There was no time to review the textbook of geometry thoroughly. So she confidently turned to Christian Science for the solution of her problem.
“Knowing that she could not possibly learn or remember anything outside of Mind, she saw that her task was not in anxious ‘cramming’ of facts, but in making a conscious mental effort to realize her at-one-ment with the one Mind. Instead of turning to the geometry textbook, she turned to the Concordances of the Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s works. As she studied, she saw that to be one with Mind she must actively manifest and express the attributes and qualities of Mind. She also saw that the true intelligence manifested by her was in ratio to the Christlike qualities she expressed.
“When Monday morning came, she entered the classroom with a quiet assurance of Mind’s presence, and that God would reveal Himself if she waited, never doubting. She saw the whole mental process of education in that classroom as the process of Mind revealing itself—unfolding itself.
“The results of this experience were humbly and prayerfully contemplated. God’s presence was proved in abundance. The logical reasoning of theorems unfolded to her waiting thought with a perception and acuteness never before realized. Original problems which in years past had been difficult for her to solve were now grasped with speed and clarity.
“When one has faithfully done his daily mental work, he need not fear examination periods, but can look forward to them with joy as presenting an opportunity to prove his own individual unity with Mind, his divine and only source. In The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany (p. 160) our Leader says, ‘To live so as to keep human consciousness in constant relation with the divine, the spiritual, and the eternal, is to individualize infinite power; and this is Christian Science.’ When study has been conscientiously carried on, then right thinking and righteous living are the true preparations needed for examination periods.”