Editorial November 9, 1929 Issue

"Avoid talking illness"

Duncan Sinclair

Mrs. Eddy's writings abound in sage advice to both practitioner and patient. Never throughout her writings does she fail to keep before them the great fundamentals of being, namely, the allness of God, good, and the perfection of His idea, man; never does she cease to impress upon them the necessity of holding to these truths and affirming them, and of always regarding evil as unreal. Especially does she impress on the practitioner the necessity of refusing to talk of disease to a patient, or of making unnecessary inquiries regarding it; and she warns the practitioner against saying anything of a discouraging nature by drawing attention to what may seem to be unfavorable symptoms, or even by "speaking aloud the name of the disease." On page 396 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" our Leader writes: "Avoid talking illness to the patient. Make no unnecessary inquiries relative to feelings or disease. Never startle with a discouraging remark about recovery, nor draw attention to certain symptoms as unfavorable, avoid speaking aloud the name of the disease."

Why, it may be asked, should one who is helping another in Christian Science have to be so guarded in his words to a patient? The answer is that since the effort is being made to make disease unreal to the patient, the utmost endeavor should be made to say nothing which may have the opposite effect. The sick are usually very sensitive to what they believe a remark may imply, usually very apt to magnify what certain symptoms may be believed to indicate; and, accordingly, it is easy to add to their fear by an unwise, unscientific remark. The practitioner who does the best healing work is the one who realizes most clearly the allness of God, good, and the unreality of evil, and has proportionately lost fear of disease. Because of his understanding, the so-called symptoms are seem by him only to be denied; and because of his freedom from fear he cannot possibly add to another's fear, but, on the contrary, destroys it through his understanding of the omnipotence of God.

"Let your speech be alway with grace," says Paul. And this is possible only when the consciousness is enlightened by spiritual Truth. People sometimes wonder at the control which Christian Scientists have over their words; wonder why while in company they refrain from discussing evil or disease. They may not know that often it has taken much prayerful effort to arrive at this achievement; for until the teaching of Christian Science became the daily, yes, hourly, contemplation of the student and his constant effort was to translate this teaching into practice, he was just as others, ready to discuss the evils of mortal existence, oblivious of the fact that by doing so he might only be tending to perpetuate them. If Christian Science had done nothing else than to put a stop in a marked degree to unwise, unprofitable talk on the part of its students, it would have done a great service to humanity.

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