Editorial May 27, 2019 Issue

Consent to true health

Barbara Vining

It’s probably safe to say there is one subject most human beings would agree on: We all want to be in good health, both physically and mentally. But how often do we think about what health actually is, so we can truly care for it?

The general view of health is that it is a condition of matter—and that when something goes wrong in the human body or mind, the remedy is in fixing matter, which can’t always be fixed. The consequence of this view of health is fear of vulnerability to matter, which can become diseased, disabled, and eventually die. But consider this arresting statement in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: “By universal consent, mortal belief has constituted itself a law to bind mortals to sickness, sin, and death” (p. 229).

Christ Jesus came to free humanity from this “mortal belief” of life and the enslaving consequences of consenting to it. He did this by consenting only to what God knows—to the consciousness of infinite Spirit, immortal Life, and eternal Truth, which includes nothing unlike good. He accepted only what God knows as reality for man—for every man, woman, and child. He knew and loved us as being as purely spiritual, perfect, and immortal as God is.

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Bible Lens—May 27–June 2, 2019