0.0 – Christian Science Publication Contents

24	TAKING OFFENSE 

  	    There is immense wisdom in the old proverb, "He
  	that is slow to anger is better than the mighty." Hannah
27	More said, "If I wished to punish my enemy, I should
  	make him hate somebody." 
  	    To punish ourselves for others' faults, is superlative
30	folly. The mental arrow shot from another's bow is

 Miscellaneous Writings --- Taking Offense                                 
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 1	practically harmless, unless our own thought barbs it. 
  	It is our pride that makes another's criticism rankle, our
 3	self-will that makes another's deed offensive, our egotism
  	that feels hurt by another's self-assertion. Well may we
  	feel wounded by our own faults; but we can hardly afford
 6	to be miserable for the faults of others. 
  	    A courtier told Constantine that a mob had broken
  	the head of his statue with stones. The emperor lifted
 9	his hands to his head, saying: "It is very surprising, but
  	I don't feel hurt in the least." 
  	    We should remember that the world is wide; that there
12	are a thousand million different human wills, opinions,
  	ambitions, tastes, and loves; that each person has a differ-
  	ent history, constitution, culture, character, from all the
15	rest; that human life is the work, the play, the ceaseless
  	action and reaction upon each other of these different
  	atoms. Then, we should go forth into life with the smallest
18	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
21	of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities; with
  	an equanimity so settled that no passing breath nor
  	accidental disturbance shall agitate or ruffle it; with a
24	charity broad enough to cover the whole world's evil, and
  	sweet enough to neutralize what is bitter in it, — de-
  	termined not to be offended when no wrong is meant, nor
27	even when it is, unless the offense be against God. 
  	    Nothing short of our own errors should offend us. He
  	who can wilfully attempt to injure another, is an object
30	of pity rather than of resentment; while it is a question
  	in my mind, whether there is enough of a flatterer, a fool,
  	or a liar, to offend a whole-souled woman. 
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