Editorial August 22, 1970 Issue

Treat Thought, Not Matter

Alan A. Aylwin

Christian Science treatment deals with thought only. This is said frequently, but it bears repeating because to understand it is utterly essential in the practice of this Science.

Mrs. Eddy discovered the mortally mental nature of all matter, including the human body. She found matter to be an ephemeral counterfeit sense of reality, of the perfect spiritual universe created by God, infinite Mind or divine Love. Her healing work proved that all forms of disease and disablement are but phases of this false mental image. They are externalized pictures of disturbed mortal thinking and must be treated as such. Mrs. Eddy clarifies this point with her customary directness. She writes, "When we remove disease by addressing the disturbed mind, giving no heed to the body, we prove that thought alone creates the suffering."^{Science and Health, p. 400;} Further on she says, "The action of so-called mortal mind must be destroyed by the divine Mind to bring out the harmony of being."

In treatment it sometimes seems a very big order to face disease as an illusive mental image, when it appears to be shouting its claim to reality in the form of pain or weakness. It would, in fact, be a hopeless proposition if we had merely psychological weapons with which to oppose it. But God is on the field in our defense, and through the study of Christian Science we can learn of His nature, how to reach Him through scientific prayer.

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