Article October 6, 2008 Issue

THE APPLICATION THAT HEALS

BY LYNN G. JACKSON

THE MOST COMMON perception of medicine is that it's a material substance you apply to a disease or illness—as in drugs, pills, and lotions. But in my study and practice of Christian Science, I've discovered that medicine isn't limited to this concept. Instead, I'm continually learning about an entirely spiritual system of medicine, based on the teachings of Jesus.

Take this example from Jesus' ministry: "And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her. And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them" (Luke 4:38, 39).

Jesus didn't rebuke Simon's mother-in-law or place blame. Instead, he rebuked the fever. How did he do this? Not by acknowledging that the fever was a force to be reckoned with. He recognized the potency of God, the one divine intelligence or Mind, right then and there. He employed no prescriptive formula in his healing work. And he recognized the powerlessness of the false concept the fever represented. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of this magazine, wrote, "Jesus' only medicine was omnipotent and omniscient Mind" (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 25).