Editorial May 25, 1912 Issue

HEALTH

Annie M. Knott

It would be interesting to note the answers given by people who are not Christian Scientists if they were asked what health meant to each of them. It is thus defined in a dictionary: "The state of being hale, sound, or whole, in body, mind, or soul; especially the state of being free from physical disease or pain." The concluding part of this definition would probably express the thought of health as entertained by many, but it should be noted that it is purely negative, as if health were merely the absence of disease. The first part is better, but it gives undue prominence to the body, and yet most people seem to believe that health is dependent upon bodily conditions and so-called material law. Respecting this Mrs. Eddy says, "Health is not a condition of matter, but of Mind; nor can the material senses bear reliable testimony on the subject of health" (Science and Health, p. 120). Surely nothing can be of greater importance than to know what health is, and how it is to be realized and maintained.

It is very likely that all Christian people would admit health to be a gift of God, and yet there are few indeed who can claim to possess it, even in the rather limited sense in which it is held in general. Most people have certain health laws in which they believe, but it cannot be denied that those who observe these laws most rigorously have usually the least freedom and in the end are little more than prisoners in the mortal body over which man ought to be ruler. The old Latin proverb about a sound mind in a sound body means to most people that the mental condition is dependent upon the bodily state, but in Christian Science it is held that a truly sound mind, one which in adequate degree reflects the activities of the divine Mind, must always govern the body perfectly and bring out health and harmony; but this can never be the case where the body is placed before the mind, or where the human thought is dominated by ignorance and fear, or poisoned by hatred, lust, or selfishness.

The true concept of health appears throughout the entire Scriptures, the psalmist referring to God as "the health of my countenance," and he prays "that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations." In response to this deep human longing Christ Jesus came, offering health of mind and body to all who would accept the gracious provision of divine Love, all who were willing to drink from the life-giving stream which flows from the throne of infinite Mind. It can never be said that Christ Jesus failed to provide for the perpetuation of his healing ministry, and for some centuries the "saving health" for which the psalmist prayed was made known to all the nations where Jesus' followers sojourned, the word being accompanied by "demonstration of the Spirit and of power," as says St. Paul. Then came the obscuring clouds of mortal and material belief, with sin, sickness, war, and poverty; but anon came the light of Truth in Christian Science, and today the work of its students is to "establish the scientific sense of health" (Science and Health, p. 373), which means wholeness or holiness; in other words, the consciousness of the divine government of man's entire being by the Mind that knows and embraces all reality, and that neither slumbers nor sleeps. It also means that understanding of spiritual law and obedience thereto, which brings entire freedom from the limiting exactions of belief in material law.

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