Article July 28, 1980 Issue

The one way is to do

MARIE ANTOINETTE COWING

How can I learn to demonstrate Christian Science better—to see healing results from my prayers? The answer to such a question must come individually to each one, since each one's need and spiritual enlightenment are individual. Absolute Science—divine Science—is the basis of Christian Science practice, and so all our answers can and must be found there.

One obstruction to healing may be that the student is reading and reading when he should be reading and doing. We do not make much progress simply by reading and then leaving it all in the books as we go about our daily affairs. It would be better to read less and take at least one rule away with us to put into practice at once. It is only as we make truth an integral part of our consciousness that it can have any effect on our lives. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, makes this point clearly and emphatically in Retrospection and Introspection: "There is but one way of doing good, and that is to do it! There is but one way of being good, and that is to be good!"^{Ret., p. 86;}

But how do we do good and how can we be good? We find our instructions in the Bible and in Mrs. Eddy's writings. As we make the effort, we learn, by study and practice, that we "can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth [us]."^{Phil. 4:13;} The rules are clearly set out for us; it is up to us to follow them. How can we do this?