It is amazing how something we have read many times over can be approached with a new thought to give us a completely new insight. What caused a great change in my thinking is a sentence in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures where the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, says, "The Bible contains the recipe for all healing." ^{Science and Health, p. 406.} Previously when I had read this I had thought, "Yes, of course that's true." The Bible tells us how to heal, and if we follow Christ Jesus and live the Christlike way, we should be able to do the healing work he did. After all, he did tell us: "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." ^{John 14:12.}

One day, however, when I was praying about a physical problem, I began to think what it is that a cook does when she or he is about to follow a recipe. Isn't the first step to check to be sure all the ingredients needed are in the house? This gave me pause for a question. Have I brought into my house (my consciousness) all the qualities I need to perform the healing work? And indeed, what is the healing work I want to do? Is it to be more comfortable in matter (which at the time was giving me an unpleasant experience)? Or is it to gain a better idea of God and my true relationship to Him?

You can see this was taking me far afield from the kitchen, but I was getting a firmer grasp on something we all have to face, and that is the quality of our thinking. I began to ponder what I would need for healing.

The First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," ^{Ex. 20:3.} came to mind. Why, of course! Surely the most vital ingredient in healing was my understanding that there is only one God, one creator.

I then saw the corollary to this as being equally important. Since there is only one God, and man is made in His image, this man must be qualitatively like Spirit. He couldn't be made of matter, because God can create nothing that has a capacity for less than perfection. And perfection is the only thing God knows. In the words of Habakkuk: "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." ^{Hab. 1:13.}

I now had Spirit, God, and spiritual man as the basic elements for healing, but I knew in this case more was needed. What about all those arguments matter was asserting? I was in constant pain at the time. Was this true of man—of me, the me that was the ideal of Spirit? I realized that in reality this had never been true for one instant, and that no matter how long the condition had seemed to be real, it was only illusion. I was being duped to believe a lie!

The great thing about realizing I was accepting a counterfeit as true is that I could immediately cease giving it credence. There didn't even have to be any waiting or convalescing period. And a lie, being the counterfeit of truth, had no power to fight against its own destruction.

Next I saw that I needed to deny the lie that there was a substance called matter and that it could have sensation. Matter was claiming intelligence and life, declaring it was true, and assuming the appearance of reality. I realized no medium-sized argument would work here. I began to see why my previous endeavors to heal this situation had not been successful. I had been making only a halfhearted attempt to deny the error. Oh, I would argue for Truth, but as soon as the condition seemed to be met and the pain abated I would let my defenses down. And I saw all too clearly to my chagrin that I had never sent in my first line of heavy artillery.

If all power belongs to God—and this is true as a natural consequence of the fact there is only God in control of the creation He brought into being—then the outcome was already established! And it was inevitable. It could not be impaired, it could not be delayed, and it had to be total and complete. And there was nothing I needed to do to change the situation. Error had to give up its ground and surrender, since I would be satisfied with nothing less than its total annihilation.

Then I made another discovery. The battle was not being fought in matter, but in my consciousness. The sneaky way of error is that it appealed to me to take it in and accept it as something real—as something I was feeling and that was happening in a time frame going on for too long.

The choice was there for me to make, as it always is moment by moment in our human experience. Was I going to accept the lie of material sense testimony, or was I going to reject it and accept the truth of being?

Reasoning along this line, I could see clearly who the culprit was. It was none other than mortal mind, the name Mrs. Eddy gives to the supposititious source of every thought that does not proceed from God. It was the lie claiming that I was a mortal living in a painful material body and that I had no recourse—no way to protect myself against this claim.

But I knew I did have a course of action, and it was to let the truths of Christian Science totally destroy this falsity. I was not only willing but eager to put into operation what was necessary to let the healing commence. The Christ in my consciousness was spiritual light, helping me to see I didn't have to be a victim. I was a victor and could claim my victory not at some future time but right then.

I realized, however, that my protests of truth had to be applied specifically to the lie that was screaming for attention and claiming reality. And this lie was nothing else but the universal belief that we live and die in a material body.

I further saw that in the degree I knew this lie could have no power over me, in that degree would I become the master of the situation. Since the Bible has "the recipe for all healing," I could turn to it, sorting and sifting through the glorious truths contained in its pages for the assurance I needed to meet the foe.

Paul tells us in Acts: "For in him [God] we live, and move, and have our being." ^{Acts 17:28.} I began to reason scientifically that if I was living in God as the embodiment of Spirit, I couldn't be existing in a sickly material body. I saw that my consciousness reflected God and expressed His power, and this power was sufficient to overcome the paltry suggestions of error that came to me as my thinking. I also realized that God's child could no more believe a lie than God's child could be subject to the lie of pain. The pain and everything connected with it were outlaws—without any basis for existence.

How the substance of my thinking was beginning to improve! I could see there is nothing that can be added to the child of God's creating. Standing in original perfection, man is perfect, pure, whole, complete; he is spiritual identity with only the integrity of Spirit as his true substance. Therefore what God did not create could be no part of my experience.

Finally, I realized that if I had taken all the necessary steps in preparation for healing, I could rest assured the healing must take place. As dough rises when set in a warm oven, so my thoughts ascended to God, the Giver of all good, and I knew my need must be met. I asked myself, Was my thinking warmed with love, with the universal love for all, understanding that these truths I was accepting for myself can and should be applied to everyone?

Following the Bible's recipe to the letter, acting with the faith of Spirit, I was healed. Can we ever doubt the result?