Article September 4, 1978 Issue

Uncovering error

DONALD M. SWINNEY

The lid evil, or error, hides under is the illusion that it has real being. Through our knowing that it has no being in reality, since God creates good alone, we strip error of its cover and prove its nothingness. Finding, through the understanding of Christ, Truth, that error is unreal and powerless, we lose fear of it, and healing results. In No and Yes Mrs. Eddy writes, "On the ground that harmony is the truth of being, the Science of Mind healing destroys the feasibility of disease; hence error of thought becomes fable instead of fact."^{No and Yes, p. 4;}

Error is not uncovered until we know it to be nothing. When we see error for what it is, we realize that it isn't. And then we don't see it; we unsee it. If we still believe it has any being whatsoever—past, present, or future—it remains, to some degree, covered. If we accept sickness as a reality, even temporarily, while we seek to discover what has produced it, we leave error's cover undisturbed. The falsity hides itself under the pretense of having presence.

The nature of any lie is to direct attention away from its own falsity. Perhaps it argues there is pain in matter. If we accept this claim, we are likely to look anxiously to material conditions, hoping things will change. But while we look outside human consciousness for the cause of suffering, we cannot successfully challenge the erroneous claim of pain. Error's cover will not be lifted. Christian Science shows that all there is to physical diseases—pain, inflammation, infection—is their claim to exist. They are false beliefs of mortal mind, erroneously entertained in human consciousness. The bodily suffering these false beliefs appear to produce may seem very real until spiritual understanding uncovers its illusion.

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