Editorial April 9, 1984 Issue

Developing an ability to heal

CAROLYN B. SWAN

We can all develop the ability to heal in the way exemplified by Christ Jesus. Our ability to heal solely by spiritual means has its source in God, and is an effect of the laws that maintain His creation—including Godlike, spiritual man, our true selfhood—in perfect harmony. God, then, is the healer; yet Jesus commanded his followers to exercise their Godlikeness. He said, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give."^{Matt. 10:8.}

Surely the fond hope of a Christian disciple is to follow his Master's example by defeating sin, suffering, and sorrow without material aid. Sometime and in some way, all mortals have to face and meet the false claims of disease, deterioration, death, and sin. But we can face and meet them joyfully every day, as Jesus exemplified. As we do so, our progress is systematic instead of spasmodic.

Does God, divine Mind, ever suggest that we don't know how to, don't want to, or don't need to apply God's healing law as revealed in Christian Science? Certainly not. God neither suggests nor supports inability, indifference, or apathy. These errors are delusions of mortal mind, the erroneous belief that intelligence and knowledge can be both good and evil. If we are tempted to accept the suggestions of supposititious mortal mind as our own reasoning, we need to reconsider what our abilities are and where they come from. Our abilities are our capacities for expressing God; they come from Him. Our true identity—God's man, His full and perfect expression—lacks nothing good and has no element or knowledge of evil. In proportion as we understand this, we can prove it.

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