Article July 20, 1981 Issue

Progressing in adversity

MARY BARNES

If sincere Christians, we are striving to follow Christ Jesus by rising above evil. This entails not only the determination to resist sin in all its manifold disguises but also the healing of pain and sickness. In other words, the life of a true Christian (and hence of a Christian Scientist) has its element of warfare with the beliefs of the flesh.

This warfare could seem discouraging and frustrating unless the correct starting point—perfect God and perfect man—is kept uppermost. Then, instead of feeling as though we are forever reaching up to the goal of perfection, we are fortified by the peace-bestowing realization that the child of God remains at this perfect standpoint. Our task is to prove this already existing state of being in our daily lives. This isn't always easy, but we know that when the truth of being is kept before us, we can refuse to be sidetracked or discouraged by error.

Mortal existence is actually but a dream from which we must wake by gaining a consciousness of what life truly is—the expression of the one divine Life. As the creation of divine Principle, man is always conscious of the beautiful qualities of our heavenly Parent and never lacks the capacity to exhibit these qualities. Man is irreversibly healthy, happy, intelligent, loved. Spirit is the undecaying, indestructible substance of his being, and he is forever exempt from the unjust impositions of materialism, such as disease, lack, depletion, and frustration.

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Working for God
July 20, 1981
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