Because man is spiritual ...
Does one call upon a practitioner for healing just as one would call upon a medical doctor?
Christian Science healing goes beyond the physical and takes place without the use of drugs; but to expect physical healing is certainly legitimate—in fact, spiritually based expectation helps promote healing. To expect the correction of a problem without drugs as a wholly scientific as well as Christian event is equally a must. However, to seek the curing of a physical body solely as a physical phenomenon is to court grave disappointment.
It is very important, then, to know the difference between Christian Science healing and other supposed therapeutic methods. Healing in this Science is based on firm spiritual conviction—reinforced by the actual understanding of Truth. Spiritual understanding often appears gradually. This understanding is a result of spiritual vision—that is, of thought lifted above what appears to the physical senses. Strenuously reversing what is apparent to the physical senses and holding out for good alone, we arrive at an unwavering acknowledgment that God is all power, all presence, all intelligence, and all action. Evil and inharmony have no reality. Thought that stems from Mind, God, is pure, not tarnished with material theories.
It is not necessary for one to understand all of this truth in order to heal or to be healed, but the more understanding one has of it, the more readily he realizes the harmonious state of all being. A simple faith, if such faith is more than just a union of blind belief and trust, forwards healing, as does desire to know God, good, coupled with a willingness to give up what one knows is not good. Even a little understanding of Christian Science, put into practice, is a powerful influence for good, because Christian Science is the truth of man and the universe—the truth that Spirit, God, is All, fills all space, and knows no other existence. The more vividly truth is seen by the practitioner and the one seeking help, the more visible the effect of good becomes.
We need a clear comprehension, however, that God can be understood and goodness attained. This is where prayer plays a vital role. Contending for good destroys materiality. Many believe Christian Science will heal them; but how much more readily healing would appear if they understood Science! Christian Science presents the truth that man is spiritual. This fact tends to elude us; but if we diligently and prayerfully explore the biblical record from the standpoint of its spiritual significance rather than as a compilation of mortal events, we can become aware of the fundamental spiritual nature of all real identity, our own included.
In the process of gaining this understanding we are called upon to put off the concept that man is a mortal—that is, physical, a creature of the five physical senses. We believe in a material world because we believe in a material self. When we seek to know ourselves as spiritual, and to express more of the qualities derived from divine Spirit, we begin to lose the belief that we and our surroundings are material. In Miscellaneous Writings Mrs. Eddy questions: "Who remembers that patience, forgiveness, abiding faith, and affection, are the symptoms by which our Father indicates the different stages of man's recovery from sin and his entrance into Science?" Mis., p. 100 ;
Anyone who believes in the reality of physical being can escape from this limited, mortal sense into the glorious apprehension of real life as the reflection of God, or Life, and this is primarily what transpires in true Christian Science healing. If we aspire to simple faith and at the same time seek more understanding of what is invisible to the material senses—what is spiritual—we can begin effectively to rid ourselves of fear. When fear is wholly dissipated, healing inevitably takes place.
If ever the healing work seems bogged down in discouragement or struggle, we need to reexamine our starting point and begin anew from a truly spiritual basis. The understanding that all is Spirit and spiritual leads to full reliance on God, good. Mrs. Eddy writes, "The starting-point of divine Science is that God, Spirit, is All-in-all, and that there is no other might nor Mind,—that God is Love, and therefore He is divine Principle." Science and Health, p. 275 ;
Since there is nothing outside God, the divine Mind, there is, in an absolute sense, nothing to heal. Surely what God made needs no healing. And if there were anything other than what God made it would be logically and forever false.
A belief in sickness, sin, inharmony, then, is just that—a belief; and what corrects a false belief? The truth! Any inharmonious or ungodlike condition is a false belief and not the truth of being.
God and good are one. We can all certainly hold good thoughts—spiritual thoughts—about our neighbor, our country, the world and its inhabitants, as well as about ourselves. A consciousness filled with good—good thoughts, good aims, good motives, good acts—is indeed a healing consciousness. Does not this description fit Christ Jesus, the greatest healer that ever walked the earth?
The Bible records many instances of Jesus' healing. Those who called on him for aid did so because of the complete and pure goodness he expressed. It was this goodness that attracted and healed. So, today, goodness attracts and heals.
Hear these pleas of several who went to Jesus for healing. The leper: "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." Matt. 8:2 ; The woman who was healed of an issue of blood: "If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole." 9:21; The two blind men who followed him crying: "Thou Son of David, have mercy on us." v. 27; These people were reaching out to a heart of pure goodness for what they knew would heal. They had faith in God, good, and in the goodness Jesus presented and represented.
The Christian Science practitioner can help us to see, as no other healer can, our goodness and perfection as they already exist. Both patient and practitioner are greatly helped through prayer that proclaims the present perfection of man. Let us remember, however, that Love, the only real healing power, is not patterned; a pattern indicates a prescribed method. The way of Love is infinite—it may be felt through the gentlest touch or the mightiest jolt.
When it is learned that sin and sickness are neither real nor of God, it becomes clearer that to be healed we have to know more of ourselves as God's idea. Our perfection exists now. To know this is the aid we most need when we call for help—and it's the only real aid we can be given. This understanding makes us alive to the declaration made by the Apostle Paul: "Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you." II Cor. 13:11 . Perfection needs no treatment or healing; it needs only to be understood and practiced.
