Article December 11, 1920 Issue

Overcoming by Replacing

MOLLIE A. HOWE

A patient once said to a Christian Science practitioner to whom he had gone for help on a certain problem, "I have worked and worked, but have not seemed to be able to overcome the difficulty." It occurred to the practitioner that it might be well to inquire a little into the method of work referred to, and the reply came: "Why, I said, This is not true, this is not real, it cannot hurt me, and so on." On a little further inquiry it developed that the student seeking help had simply denied the error that seemed to be confronting him, with no thought or effort on his part of replacing it with the fact or truth concerning the specific error.

The question was immediately asked of this student, "How soon would the belief of two plus two equals five be healed by keeping your gaze fixed on the blackboard picture of this false conclusion, and declaring at the same time, It is not true, it is not real, it cannot hurt the problem,—without recognizing that right where the claim of the five seemed to be, only one thing could exist as the result of two plus two, namely, four?" Mrs. Eddy tells us on page 151 of Science and Health, "All that really exists is the divine Mind and its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal. The straight and narrow way is to see and acknowledge this fact, yield to this power, and follow the leadings of truth."

It is obvious that when the simple procedure of seeing and acknowledging the fact, instead of merely denying the error was clearly discerned by the student, he was healed, for he recognized that the physical claim of inharmony (the five of two plus two) never existed in consciousness, and the way to demonstrate this in experience was not to spend his time in denials of error alone, but in knowing the truth, as Jesus said; and we would do well to preface the text that every student of Christian Science loves, as the Master did when he said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." For it is plain that the "continue in my word" does not imply the simple negativing of error, but the recognition and affirmation as well of the truth, in other words, knowing it.

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