Article February 2, 1957 Issue

PHYSICAL HEALING—SIGN, BUT NOT SUBSTANCE

ROBERT DOLLING WELLS

Physical healing is an inevitable result of spiritual growth. It is important as the sign of that growth; but if we consider it the substance of Christian Science, we mistake, and this mistake may account for some delayed healings. To put it another way: if a man were to walk up the street for the express purpose of taking his shadow to some destination, he would be watching his shadow instead of his footsteps, and he would be likely to fall.

We read in Hebrews (11:1), "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Absolute faith, or spiritual understanding, is both substance and true evidence. It is the goal of the Christian Scientist, the destination he seeks through prayer. Christ Jesus said that there is a blessing even in the hunger and thirst, the desire, for spiritual understanding, or righteousness. And he advised (Matt. 6:33), "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

God is All. He is omnipotent good, Spirit, the source and substance of true creation, of your real being and mine. He is divine Truth, ever-present Life, and infinite Love, whose comforting care is available at all times and under all circumstances. Mary Baker Eddy declares in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 185): "Truth, Life, and Love are formidable, wherever thought, felt, spoken, or written,—in the pulpit, in the court-room, by the wayside, or in our homes. They are the victors never to be vanquished." These fundamental statements are understandable and demonstrable, available to the one who may seem to need most to prove them; that is, the one who is sick and distressed in mind and body.

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PHYSICAL HEALING—SIGN, BUT NOT SUBSTANCE

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