Editorial May 26, 1980 Issue

Christ within consciousness

NATHAN A. TALBOT

When we pray consistently for healing, we expect change. And sometimes it comes very smoothly and without delay. Other times we persist; we study thoughtfully, deepening our understanding of Truth, broadening our love for God. With this earnest effort we feel justified in expecting events to treat us more gently. We want to be well; to get along better with our fellowman; to be happier. Scientific prayer—even the times it requires striving for clearer and deeper glimpses of reality—does heal. It draws us into accord with God's law, and we find our lives transformed.

What about those times when we have worked long and hard and still a healing has not come? Perhaps extensive help has been given by a Christian Science practitioner. It may well be that we have stretched as far as seems possible to reach for this healing. And yet it appears that the power of God, His healing presence, is still just ahead of us, not quite within our grasp.

Maybe we need a different perspective. From the viewpoint of striving mortals, God's healing Christ seems all too often beyond us. The human mind so regularly thinks in terms of its own limitations—what it can't quite attain. Material sense never sees things from the standpoint of infinite Christ, Truth—an ever-embracing presence—but from the insecure position that good is separate from us, usually another step away. Must we always struggle for the Christ, trying to grasp its healing, saving power? When we have stretched as far as we possibly can and simply feel that the Christ is beyond our reach, it may be important to let go of a struggle that has perhaps become rather self-centered. Maybe it's time now to trust an action of the Christ that, up to now, we have not recognized.

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