THE RECEPTIVE HEART

The Science of Christianity revolutionizes our thinking. Like the science of mathematics, which cannot be made to conform to personal opinion or to anything less than its impersonal principle, so the Science of Christianity cannot be twisted or adapted to fit into any limited, human concept of God or man. This Science must be approached and accepted in a spirit of childlike humility, with an eager, receptive heart, if one would gain the divine inspiration which heals the sick and frees the sinner from his desire to sin.

We often hear a great deal about heart disease. Anyone coming under that belief—and Christian Science has proved that it is only a belief, and utterly without substance—would do well to ponder the definition of "heart" given by our divinely inspired Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, in the Glossary of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 587 ): "Mortal feelings, motives, affections, joys, and sorrows."

Let the sufferer ask himself what "mortal feelings" he is entertaining; and when he finds any that are not Godlike, let him get rid of them as fast and as thoroughly as he can. This he does by the daily study of the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings and the application of the truths contained therein. These books make clear the method used by Jesus and his followers in healing the sick.

To attain an understanding of Christian Science, one must have a receptive heart. He must accept the fact that God is All-in-all, that He is all good, the only creator. He must recognize that God is ever present, all-powerful, and all-knowing, that man is His image and likeness, as the Bible affirms. And he must realize that he, in his true being, is spiritual. As the individual becomes convinced of these truths, he releases his hold on any un-Godlike, "mortal feelings" and begins to express in progressive degree his true self, the immortal and eternally perfect child of his perfect Father.

Are one's "motives" pure? If not, let one cleanse them with loving-kindness toward all with whom he comes in contact. Let him endeavor to express integrity in his human relations. This is no unpleasant duty, keeping him from popularity and success. It is the very method by which the sufferer will gain not only esteem, affection, and success, but also his longed-for health—a sick heart made whole.

How about one's "affections"? Let one purify them, if need be, with unselfed love, tender compassion, and the realization that God is the Father-Mother of everyone, that there is one Mind, and that every individual is in reality the expression of that Mind. In "Miscellaneous Writings" Mrs. Eddy says (p. 50 ): "We do believe, and understand—which is more—that there must he a change from human affections, desires, and aims, to the divine standard, 'Be ye therefore perfect;' also, that there must be a change from the belief that the heart is matter and sustains life, to the understanding that God is our Life, that we exist in Mind, live thereby, and have being. This change of heart would deliver man from heart-disease, and advance Christianity a hundredfold."

The unfoldment of the true standard of affection is always accompanied by the desire to be of service. One who has this desire never criticizes or condemns persons, but clings steadfastly to the truth of perfect God and perfect man. This affection brings a calmness and a peace, satisfying and blessing both the giver and the receiver.

What of one's "joys" and "sorrows"? Is one joyless? Then he is unaware of his birthright, for man is the rightful heir of a glorious inheritance. One needs only to recognize his spiritual being and turn away from the illusion of sorrow by denying its reality as a part of God's creation. He needs to claim his oneness, or unity, with God, divine Love, his creator, from whom he is as inseparable as is a ray of light from the sun.

In Isaiah we read (35:10 ), "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Through the recognition of his true status, one becomes a participant in the joy that is inherent in his spiritual nature, a joy that is ever present and unchanging.

The transformation in anyone's thinking will heal the sense of an impaired heart. That is what treatment in Christian Science is—the replacing of what is untrue about man with what is true of him. This transformation is a purely mental process, somewhat like the replacing of the mistaken belief that the sun moves around the earth with the astronomical truth that it is the earth which moves around the sun.

I, myself, proved the practicality of this method of Christian Science treatment when I awoke one night with what seemed to be a critical heart condition. It caught me off guard for a moment, and I began to accept it on its own terms, a material heart that could be impaired by material conditions. And while I considered my heart to be a material organ, I was unable to relieve the pain and fear.

Then I realized what I was doing and turned completely away from the material senses and faced the condition as only a mental suggestion. I knew that we live in a mental world, and that Christian Science teaches us that it is in reality a divinely mental world. I now placed the physical pain where it belonged, as a materially mental belief in pain, a suggestion that there was a power opposed to God, called evil or disease.

Then I saw the impotence, the lack of substance, law, or power of that belief. I realized that God was not the creator of pain or of an organ that could feel pain. I knew that as the image and likeness of God, man can reflect only what God knows; and that God knows His own creation. His beloved son, as incorporeal, inorganic, spiritual man. I saw that man is not and never has been material. He is always the embodiment of spiritual ideas, pure and perfect, the expression of God's being, the emanation of the one divine Mind.

The comforting statement which Mrs. Eddy makes in Science and Health came to my thought (p. 425 ): "Consciousness constructs a better body when faith in matter has been conquered. Correct material belief by spiritual understanding, and Spirit will form you anew. You will never fear again except to offend God, and you will never believe that heart or any portion of the body can destroy you."

I began to perceive with great clarity that God, and not heart, keeps one alive, "for as [one] thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7 ). Fear of death was being replaced by confidence in the power of ever-present Love to heal, protect, and save. I began to whisper the words of a favorite hymn in the Christian Science Hymnal (No. 93):

As I reached the last line, I spoke it aloud, for all pain had ceased and I was free. A sense of impaired heart had been replaced by the concept of a heart receptive to the inspiration of divine Spirit, which always destroys all evil and heals the sick.

The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.—Isaiah 32:17.