Article June 15, 1935 Issue

Preach the Gospel, Heal the Sick

LOUIE ALLEN

Christ Jesus , the Way-shower, gave a twofold command to his disciples. He told them to preach the gospel and to heal the sick; and the work which he himself did as he went about among the multitudes showed that he considered these two commands as inseparably connected. With the giving out of the Word he expected and obtained the "signs following," and he looked to his disciples to do likewise.

To preach is to proclaim the gospel, and the gospel is the good news concerning the Christ and the kingdom of God. Today Christian Science revealing to its students the truth about the kingdom of God and is proclaiming the good news that man is the idea of Love, coexistent with God and including all right ideas. As students of Christian Science, we first of all tell this good news to ourselves. We begin by assuring ourselves that we live in Mind; that we can therefore be conscious only of the activity of divine goodness. We watch the quality of our thinking, and accept as real only those thoughts which truly express the divine nature. We assure ourselves of the spiritual facts of health and of the indestructibility of Mind and its ideas, and we learn to look for good everywhere. When we are awake to this good news, and realize that the kingdom of God is indeed within us, and that, as Mrs. Eddy says, "we can become conscious, here and now, of a cessation of death, sorrow, and pain" (Science and Health, p. 573), then are we ready to preach to others, to proclaim the truth our brother men, to know confidently that they too in their real and only being are dwelling in the kingdom of eternal harmony.

Preaching does not necessarily mean talking; and, indeed, our best work is often done silently. It is calm, confident knowing that helps ourselves and the world. It is trust in the all-presence of Spirit and its manifestations which is making multitudes of seekers receptive to the teachings of Christian Science. It is the acknowledgment of the perfection of spiritual creation that is helping to establish here on earth the divine concept of goodness.

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