Editorial June 26, 1978 Issue

The Christ and the addict

Nathan A. Talbot

The question is not whether the addict can be healed. He can be cured with certainty. The question often is how much love we have for the Christ. Not a single addict is beyond the reach of the grace of God, the redeeming power of Christ, Truth.

Every addiction rests upon the premise that materialism wields an irresistible power. But the fact is that no form of materialism has ever had the intrinsic capacity to overwhelm an individual. Matter is powerless. Mortal mind, the belief in a mind apart from God, is the culprit. It feeds materialism, giving it the only appeal it appears to have. The Christ alone is power. It starves material belief by drawing the individual to the irresistible perfection of Spirit.

We can help others through our response to the Christ. We can recognize its supremacy. When we do, we can heal the addict. Jesus healed sin as effectively as he healed sickness. He understood it is the Christ—Love's message to human consciousness—that is irresistible, not materiality in any of its forms. Reality is not constituted of good and evil, each clamoring for our allegiance. Matter and all of its claims must submit to Spirit and its infinite, unopposed demands of perfection. Mrs. Eddy writes, "There is but one real attraction, that of Spirit."^{Science and Health, p. 102;}