Article April 21, 1973 Issue

Don't Identify Yourself with the Problem

ROBERT B. HAZELETT

At one time in my life, when I had difficulties, I was often tempted to work them out through prayer from the standpoint that a problem existed and required a solution. I would identify myself with the problem and then try to apply the truths of Christian Science to solve it. But further study and practice have proved this to be a mistake.

What distinguishes Christian Science from other systems of religion, philosophy, and therapeutics is its standard of perfect God and perfect man. This Science lifts thought to see the universe as it really is—spiritual, harmonious, God-governed, God-sustained.

In this teaching one doesn't begin by identifying himself with a problem and then proceed to find a way to solve it. Mary Baker Eddy makes this clear in her statement in Science and Health: "It is mental quackery to make disease a reality—to hold it as something seen and felt—and then to attempt its cure through Mind."^{Science and Health, p. 395;} By knowing and utilizing the appropriate spiritual facts one can free himself from the belief that a problem is real.