Editorial January 19, 1963 Issue

"They shall lay hands on the sick"

Ralph E. Wagers

Spiritual healing in Christian Science is wholly apart from physical contact and is not dependent upon any religious rite or ceremony. Leading up to a completely satisfying interpretation of Christ Jesus' statement, "They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover," as recorded in the sixteenth chapter of Mark, Mrs. Eddy states (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 247): "Everything that God created, He pronounced good. He never made sickness. Hence that is only an evil belief of mortal mind, which must be met, in every instance, with a denial by Truth."

Mrs. Eddy continues on the next page: "This is the 'new tongue,' the language of them that 'lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover,' whose spiritual interpretation they refuse to hear. For instance: the literal meaning of the passage 'lay hands on the sick' would be manipulation; its moral meaning, found in the 'new tongue,' is spiritual power, as, in another Scripture, 'I will triumph in the works of Thy hands.' "

When one does something helpful with his hands, he performs a service, and so hands have often been used metaphorically in terms of service. Praying the prayer of spiritual understanding on behalf of another is such a service.

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