Editorial December 9, 1950 Issue

THE BASIS OF HEALTH

Helen Wood Bauman

Many pray for health, imploring God to restore their normal mental and physical freedom. Little do they realize that health is inherent in man, that it is something he can never lose, and that it is as accessible as love or justice or any other good quality. Christian Science explains health as an attribute of God, divine Mind, which is expressed through man, Mind's idea, and not as a condition outside of God, to which the Father must minister. One finds permanent health only as he proves God to be his Mind, the source of man and of man's pure harmony. Mary Baker Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 339), "The basis of all health, sinlessness, and immortality is the great fact that God is the only Mind; and this Mind must be not merely believed, but it must be understood."

Health is synonymous with wholeness, or holiness, and implies the unimpaired innocence of godliness, which divine Mind alone can impart. It is achievable by anyone willing to identify himself as the spiritual image of God, and thus give up the mortal delusion that he is a physical personality, plagued by sin and bodily discomfort. Health appears in the degree that man appears, and ill-health indicates that a more profound search for one's true selfhood is needed, a higher comprehension of man's unity with his Maker, a greater measure of self-immolation, which defines flesh and its history and circumstances as utterly false.

Christian Science instructs its students to seek health in Mind rather than in matter. They are taught to see that something is or may be wrong with their thinking if their health seems less than perfect, and they then search for possible mistakes in their metaphysical method of demonstrating health. They are also taught to listen humbly to God for the revelation of spiritual facts which they need to know. They give up preconceived beliefs about the practice of Christian Science and stand ready to obey the unfoldment of a higher understanding of the law of God.

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