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Fighting the flu
Recently an e-mail advertisement from an office supply store began, “So many ways to fight the flu.” There were seven products displayed on their opening page, including facial tissues, disinfectants, and pain relievers. Just a few days earlier I’d had a conversation with a fellow Christian Scientist about how we can quickly respond to suggestions that come to us about sickness. We both agreed that we can always say, “No. No. No.” Not out of human will, but from the standpoint that God never made disease, whatever its name, type, or widespread influence. Whether or not society views disease as totally mental in nature, there is nothing to stop each one of us from seeing disease and mortal existence in terms of belief.
Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, clearly stated in her writings how Christ Jesus was able to put down both subtle and aggressive beliefs, and thereby heal those who came to him for help. Jesus was alert to the reality of God as divine Soul, which enabled him to challenge the material senses. Mrs. Eddy writes, “Like the great Exemplar, the healer should speak to disease as one having authority over it, leaving Soul to master the false evidences of the corporeal senses and to assert its claims over mortality and disease” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 395).
A friend called me to ask if I would pray for her, giving her Christian Science treatment. She said she was suffering from a migraine headache. We talked and she came to realize it was the result of her belief that changes of weather and temperature could trigger pain. She also realized that this belief would not have been corrected by taking a pain reliever or sleeping pill. The need was to view the problem as belief and then follow the Master’s example to “speak to disease as one having authority over it.”
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About the author
Robert R. MacKusick is a Christian Science practitioner and teacher in Southport, Maine. He teaches and holds Association meetings in Cleveland, Ohio.
