Editorial February 1, 1988 Issue

Healing work

Allison W. Phinney, Jr.

You may have heard Christian Scientists speak of "healing work." By this is usually meant healing through prayer, or the practice of Christian Science. But why "work"? Shouldn't healing through prayer be spontaneous and free? Shouldn't it be an effortless, natural response to what God is doing?

Often it is. Many Christian Scientists remember healings that have come this way. But they also recall times when work was required. This kind of work isn't physical labor; it is inward, persistent mental effort.

The human mind doesn't always look forward to work, physical or mental. It would much prefer to "just know," to float, to go ahead without meeting any resistance. In fact, having done some work, we may have a tendency to drift or become discouraged if there is no immediate result. Christian Science helps us see, however, that this tendency in the area of spiritual healing points to an attitude that needs correction.

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