Love Bearing Witness

"IF Spirit or the power of divine Love bear witness to the truth, this is the ultimatum, the scientific way, and the healing is instantaneous," Mrs. Eddy tells us on page 411 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." Upon examining this interesting definition of how to heal instantaneously, the writer spent many hours seeking to understand that the only ambition any one has who wishes to help his fellow man is to see constantly successful results. The question arises, What does it mean for divine Love to "bear witness to the truth"? The following is given in heartfelt gratitude to the Giver of every good and perfect gift for revealing the longed for answer.

When coming into Christian Science the student often first considers "the scientific statement of being" (Science and Health, p. 468), and in the daily round of duties, a slight burn, a cut, or any seeming discordant condition begets the quickened denial and affirmation of the yet dimly conceived understanding of what he is voicing. Through constant study and application of the truth to one's problem, the mist of mortal mind begins to clear and our outlook takes in a wider scope of demonstration than the overcoming of mere physical ills. One seems to stand on a high mountain, as it were and looking deep into space, seems to become conscious that he is at one with All and hears the voice that spoke to Abraham, "I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect." Herein is the basic commandment, "Be thou perfect." What a task! And yet, what a reward.

How are we to become perfect? We have perfect Principle, Spirit, to begin with, and in manifesting perfect Principle we learn that man is holy—whole, or spiritual. We must understand that man sees, hears, acts, knows, and loves in the way Spirit does, and then endeavoring to measure up to this standard, we can never miss the way. It is the constant reversal of every thought unlike God that comes to us, and the replacement of it with the true idea, which will bring us into all truth. Man sees as God sees, the eternal, imperishable glory of infinite existence; he hears as God hears, the perfect rhythm of exquisite harmony, the perpetual glorifying of God, the song of eternal joy; he acts as God acts, in beauty, in grace, in perfect poise; he works as God works, unceasingly, untiringly, energetically, and spontaneously; he loves as God loves, with an infinite love, seeing only the beauty, the purity, the divinity in all. It is living in the understanding of this every sixty seconds of every minute that demonstrates divine Love bearing witness to the truth. When at one with man's perfect Principle, we shall lose all sense of a mortal, and recognize the one and only presence in the universe. It is this love that Jesus came to be a witness of, the love that is divine and therefore instead of seeing sin beholds the glory; instead of sickness sees wholeness, beauty. Peter, at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, when wishing to heal the crippled man begging alms, "fastening his eyes upon him," steadfastly discerned the truth that right where mortals saw a helpless mortal, he, like Jesus his great Teacher, beheld perfect spiritual idea.