One certainly need not and should not believe a false belief when he knows the truth. Those who accepted the claim that the earth was flat stopped believing it when they were convinced of the truth that it was round.

According to the first chapter in the Bible, God made man in His image and likeness. Since God is Spirit, man is spiritual, not material. One who is absolutely convinced of this truth will stop believing the false contention that he is mortal and material.

The revelation of Christian Science shows God to be the eternal Father-Mother, Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, and Love. This religion further shows that man is the expression of God and therefore reflects the Christlike qualities of poise, peace, integrity, wisdom, eternality, and vision.

This Science points out how one may prove Christ Jesus' glorious statement (John 8:31, 32), "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Free from what? Free from believing a false belief, from accepting a lie as the truth.

What is the basic lie? It is the belief that life, substance, and intelligence are material. Dishonesty, sensuality, grief, poverty, sickness, and fear stem from the belief that man is material, or a mixture of matter and Spirit. This belief is absurd if considered in conjunction with the declaration in Genesis that God pronounced all that He had made "very good" (1:31).

Knowing the truth that Spirit alone is substantial enables us to classify matter, which is subject to disintegration and dissolution, as unsubstantial. Mary Baker Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 468): "Substance is that which is eternal and incapable of discord and decay. Truth, Life, and Love are substance, as the Scriptures use this word in Hebrews: 'The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.'"

"Knowing the truth" means having an awareness of the presence and power of God, divine Love, a conviction of His allness and of His tender care for His spiritual offspring. The Psalmist had such a conviction, for he wrote (Ps. 91:7),"A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee."

What are the thousands that, according to the Psalmist, fall at the side and at the right hand? May we not assume that these thousands are false beliefs—beliefs of fear, sin, poverty, inferiority, or beliefs in types and symptoms of disease? These beliefs cannot harm the one who knows the truth and continues in it, the one who recognizes the spiritual dominion bestowed on man by God.

Spiritual dominion or power coincident with knowing the truth reaches far beyond the immediate experience of the seeker. The earnest student of Christian Science is unselfish. He is not content to protect only himself. By knowing the truth, he also protects others from the results of believing false beliefs. Actually, if he tries, he cannot limit the good which flows from God, whose universe, including man, is perfect and indestructible.

Nevertheless, one must begin at home, within his own thinking, to correct false concepts and establish thought on Truth and Love. The "Daily Prayer," given by Mrs. Eddy in the Manual of The Mother Church, points out the way for us to do this. Then we reach out to bless all mankind with enriched affections. The prayer reads (Art. VIII, Sect. 4), "'Thy kingdom come;' let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!;

Do we believe such beliefs as these: that crime necessarily rages uncontrolled, that juvenile delinquency is normally rampant, that races, colors, and creeds are instinctively at war with one another, that ideas are so inherently divergent that there is little hope for finding a common meeting ground and promoting universal welfare? Then let us pray more earnestly and with the assurance that prayer for the enrichment of the affections of mankind is answered.

With affections enriched by Love, men will no longer tend to war with one another; greed, strife, domination, will be arrested; fear will be overcome and disease prevented and destroyed. Divine Principle, Love, is the only real power.

A student of Christian Science was in great pain as the result of an accident and was reaching out for spiritual light, which had in so many instances proved effective in restoring harmony to her experience. While praying, she received a long-distance call from a member of her family, and she was led to ask for a Christian Science treatment.

The reply was forceful and prompt. It was made clear that one need not believe a false belief; he need only know the truth. The healing was instantaneous. The pain was gone even before the end of the three-minute conversation, and the student went on with her work joyously.

How, then, shall we stop believing in disease—acute, chronic, malignant, or mild? By knowing the truth that makes free. The Science of Christianity is based on the unalterable premise of perfect God and perfect man. It reveals that nothing can change, obstruct, or delay the peaceful and effective mission of the healing truth.

Each earnest student, through right thinking, speaking, and living, can have a part in forwarding this great work by glorifying God in true Christian living and blessedness and in healing the sick and reforming the sinning.

Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy
paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me:
for thou art the God of my salvation; on
thee do I wait all the day.—Psalm 25:4, 5.