A Helpful Rule
As the mother of a small child, I learned something helpful. For two or three days I had devoted myself to prayer for the child in order to heal a mild sickness.
I knew that healing needed to take place largely with me, for Mrs. Eddy writes, "If the case is that of a young child or an infant, it needs to be met mainly through the parent's thought, silently or audibly on the aforesaid basis of Christian Science." Science and Health, p. 412 ; I could see, however, that my prayers were doing little to hold back growing concern. The demand was for thoroughgoing, vitalizing utterances of truth such as Christ Jesus made. Then in searching the Christian Science textbook, I saw something I'd never seen before. It was this: "If students do not readily heal themselves, they should early call an experienced Christian Scientist to aid them. If they are unwilling to do this for themselves, they need only to know that error cannot produce this unnatural reluctance." ibid., p. 420 ;
I asked myself why I was reluctant to get help. Somewhat to my dismay, I had to admit that perhaps I wanted to give myself a pat on the back as to how much I thought I knew about Christian Science. Was that a pure motive with which to pray? I answered my own question by calling a practitioner at once. The call was cheerfully received, the treatment given, and the next morning the child was perfectly well and happy. Never again, I decided, would I let conceit prevent my turning to another when I needed help.
In Psalms we read, "My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth." Ps. 121:2 ; In helping others we turn our own thought—and help turn the thought of the individual we're working with—to the divine source, God, for all help. We act upon and apply the inspiration that comes to us from Him to whatever the need may be. Truth, which is omnipotent, heals the individual, sometimes even in spite of himself. That is, one may seem to be doing very little to cooperate and still be healed. Why is this so? Because God's law is the only real law and it wipes out whatever claims to resist it; divine Mind is the only real Mind, and man reflects that Mind.
Does this mean that one can drift along on a lily pad of self-satisfaction, hoping perhaps, under divine grace, to blink his way through problems? Of course not. There is always praying and spiritual growing to do. God is divine Principle, and integrity— which proceeds from Principle—is fundamental to the ethics of Christian Science. One knows when he is doing his best. If he is not, but wants to do better, God will show him how. Moreover, obedience to the rules of Christian Science liberates and strengthens understanding. Physical healing is less important than our response to the primary regenerative forces activated by the Christ. What more effective way to keep children from drifting with mortal mind, the currents of material consciousness, than for them to see parents spiritualizing their thought and living the courage, patience, and decency that Christian Science prompts?
The forces of divine help may seem to be countered by the suggestions of evil, which would bog one down in belief in evil's preponderance and reality. But Christian Science, de-bogging one, brings all onto the firm ground of Truth. In the light of the ever-present Christ, man, God's image, flourishes in the spiritual flawlessness of his original purity. Sickness and disease, viewed in this light, are deduced logically to be what they always have been— nothingness. Then healing results.
To accomplish such healing results for oneself or another is not always easy. Personal sense and fear seem to befuddle a clear, spiritual view. But with or without another's aid, God, divine Love, remains our inexhaustible help.
The sooner a lie is destroyed, the better. Especially where children are concerned. What happier way for parents to shape a secure course for their children than by letting them see how certainly their Father-Mother God takes care of them? Surely, the provision in the textbook for getting aid early is one of the ways in which His love for us is expressed. When one is not making gains by his own efforts in Christian Science, it is good to call on an experienced fellow worker to help. This is the natural, right thing to do at such times. Mrs. Eddy writes, "When we are willing to help and to be helped, divine aid is near." The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 166 .
