A Study of the first part of the third chapter of John brought to the writer a clear picture of Jesus teaching the overriding importance of the spiritual concept of man to a very puzzled Nicodemus. Nicodemus was what the world would call a good man; and he was attracted and impressed by our Lord's healing work.

Yet it appears that Nicodemus held the belief, which is so generally held today, that man, though related to God by soul, is nevertheless a material body—a mechanism of flesh, blood, bones, and organs—which functions more or less mechanically until it wears out. And for this reason he could not understand our Lord, for Jesus' healing works were based on the recognition of man as wholly spiritual.

Jesus had conveyed this thought in replying to Nicodemus' questioning comments on the healings which were stirring Israel; and the carnal mind could not comprehend that "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).

Did not Jesus mean that Nicodemus must turn from the fleshly concept of man to the spiritual in order to find his real identity? Christian Science teaches us to do just this. It teaches that man is really idea, not a mechanism; that he is a compound idea of the one divine Mind.

In the first chapter of Genesis we read, "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him." Christian Science accepts this without reservation and concludes that because God is Spirit, Mind, Truth, and Love, man is therefore spiritual and complete; each element in his identity is similarly spiritual and good.

When Nicodemus continued his questioning by asking, "How can these things be?" Jesus replied, "Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?"

In somewhat the same way that the Master's healings stirred up the people, so Christian Science healing is stirring up the thinking world today. Its healing power is the power of God and so knows no limit. The thought that man is a spiritual idea, not a material mechanism, comes as a warm hope to anyone who may be suffering from internal trouble. Whether this fear be of the overloading or underfunctioning of any particular organ, this Science brings practical help.

Mrs. Eddy writes on page 373 of Science and Health: "Establish the scientific sense of health, and you relieve the oppressed organ. The inflammation, decomposition, or deposit will abate, and the disabled organ will resume its healthy functions."

What do we know about "the scientific sense of health"? Our Leader tells us in Miscellany (p. 349), "A scientific state of health is a consciousness of health, holiness, immortality—a consciousness gained through Christ, Truth; while disease is a mental state or error that Truth destroys."

It becomes clear, then, that it is a higher, holier consciousness of our identity as God's idea that we need. Instead of believing that our organs need material adjustment or special foods or fuels to function smoothly, we should be knowing that man is the reflection of Spirit and that his every component is similarly spiritual, functioning by reflection and not as a mechanism.

What is required of the seeker after health is that he turn from the material concept of man, as held by Nicodemus, to the recognition of God, the one Spirit, who is the Mind of man and whose glory man reflects. This reflection is man's real identity, in which every element is spiritual and functions harmoniously.

A good many years ago I was suffering from an internal trouble. I was in pain; I began to suffer also from hemorrhage, and with it came fear. At that time I was living in the west of England; so I decided to go to London to see a Christian Science practitioner.

I shall always remember that visit to the practitioner. I told him of my fear and of what seemed to be wrong with my material body. But we did not talk very much about that. He gave me a treatment while I read Science and Health, and then we talked about the real, spiritual man.

The practitioner dwelt upon the wonder of Mrs. Eddy's discovery. He spoke of her spirituality in discovering Christian Science and of her courage in establishing it in the face of opposition from the world's religious and secular thought. And he spoke of the great privilege which is ours as her followers today in being able to pass on this truth to a world which needs it badly.

I left the practitioner's office walking upon air, with never a thought of the complaint which had brought me there. And it was not until the next day that I remembered the trouble and recognized with joy that it had vanished. I had established "the scientific sense of health," and I was healed. Looking back on our talk now, I can see that I became conscious of a spiritual purpose which embraced something of the "consciousness of health, holiness, immortality."

Keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to
walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and
his commandments, and his judgments,
and his testimonies, as it is written in the
law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper
in all that thou doest, and whithersoever
thou turnest thyself.—I Kings 2:3.