Mary Baker Eddy tells us in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" that the divine Mind alone heals. If the divine Mind does the healing, what part do you or I have in this healing?

If we want an answer to this question, we must turn to Christ Jesus, the Way-shower, and learn from his words and from the example of his works. He said (John 14:10), "The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." In other words, the Master knew that his real individuality reflected the divine Mind. He spoke as Mind's manifestation and in this way expressed the healing message of divine Love, and we must do the same. But how can we do this?

Our Leader writes (Science and Health, p. 295): "The manifestation of God through mortals is as light passing through the windowpane. The light and the glass never mingle, but as matter, the glass is less opaque than the walls. The mortal mind through which Truth appears most vividly is that one which has lost much materiality—much error—in order to become a better transparency for Truth. Then, like a cloud melting into thin vapor, it no longer hides the sun."

From this quotation we see how Christ Jesus was the life-link, the coincidence of the human with the divine, which enabled him to be understood by humanity and become the Way-shower. Jesus' human selfhood might be likened to the windowpane; his divine nature, the Christ, or manifestation of God, was the light. Jesus' human nature was so free of the grossness of materiality, so clear a transparency for Truth, that the light of divine Mind shone through him vividly enough to dissolve the individual or collective problems which confronted him. The Christ constituted his reflection of the divine Mind. It enabled him to speak the Word of Truth, to heal the sick and the sinning, and to explain his mighty works. He had to teach, he had to reflect and express the divine Mind, in a way which mankind could understand, if he was to be the Way-shower.

Our Leader writes (ibid., p. 350): "His words were the offspring of his deeds, both of which must be understood. Unless the works are comprehended which his words explained, the words are blind." Christ Jesus made it quite clear that the words which he spoke were given him by God, by the divine Mind, and were not the outcome of the human mind. He spoke as Mind's expression, giving out just the right ideas to meet the human need.

Mrs. Eddy also states (ibid., p. 504), "The rays of infinite Truth, when gathered into the focus of ideas, bring light instantaneously, whereas a thousand years of human doctrines, hypotheses, and vague conjectures emit no such effulgence." This perfectly explains what Jesus did. He gathered "the rays of infinite Truth ... into the focus of ideas"—ideas which his disciples and followers could understand—and these ideas brought light instantaneously. In this way were their problems solved, whether the case was one of sickness, sin, or ignorance. Through the lens of Science he saw clearly not only the needs of those who came to him for help, but also the needs of the world for all time. This he could do because he reflected the Mind which is Love, the Love which meets every human need.

The spiritual ideas in which Jesus focused for his followers the truth that he reflected were embodied in the Gospels many years after he had left this world. Jesus knew that his words would be preserved, because he said (Mark 13:31), "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away." It is because these words focused rays of infinite Truth that the Gospels are inspired.

This is also true to a more limited extent of other parts of the Bible, especially those parts which were written by the prophets. They also caught glimpses of Truth, though not to the same extent as Jesus and Mrs. Eddy. For through the study of the Bible and divine revelation, our beloved Leader discovered the definite and scientific rule by which the Principle of Christ Jesus' teaching could be demonstrated in healing the sick. This rule she embodied in Science and Health, the Christian Science textbook, in which under divine inspiration she focused the rays of Truth which our master had taught and practiced, in a way that has enabled them to be more readily understood by the world at large.

It is because this book is divinely inspired that we can find in the study of Science and Health the inspiration and spiritual understanding which meet our human needs. On pages 600 through 700 of Science and Health are testimonies of healings which took place as a result of reading and studying the textbook alone. The same healing power is available to each one who will humbly do likewise.

We can now see what part individual Christian Scientists have to take in this healing work where Mind alone heals. Our human selfhood can be likened to the windowpane, and in the proportion that we lose material beliefs, in that proportion shall we cleanse our windowpanes and become better transparencies for Truth. With the help of the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings, Christian Scientists are striving to gain an even better understanding of the Mind that heals. According to the measure of their inspiration are they successful in gathering the rays of Truth into the focus of ideas which, in their daily lives, bring to bear on human problems the light which dissipates the mist of error.

Some years ago, when serving as an officer in the British Army, after dining with a regiment which was encamped on the veldt in South Africa, I started to walk home to the bungalow where I lived. As a rule nights in South Africa are very clear at that time of the year, but this particular night was pitch dark, and I had no torch.

After following a pathway over a kopje I lost my way completely. I could move neither forwards nor backwards because of the large boulders which blocked my way, and I could see nothing. I rested against a boulder and turned trustingly to God. I declared His presence, power, and love, and asked for guidance from the one Mind. The answer came to me like a flash from the ninety-first Psalm (verses 11, 12): "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone."

I stepped out and went on my way rejoicing. During that walk my foot never struck a stone. The next thing I touched was the latch of the gate of my bungalow. One of the infinite rays of Truth had revealed to me a spiritual idea of direction that brought light instantaneously, and my human need was met.

The ability to glimpse the Christ-light through reflecting Mind's inspiration focused in a spiritual idea is the monopoly of no sect or clique. It is possible to all mankind alike, for as the Bible tells us (Acts 10:34), "God is no respecter of persons." Let us watch, work, and pray that the Mind "which was also in Christ Jesus" may shine through us and enable us to reflect Mind in speech and action. Thus spiritual inspiration will focus the divine rays of Truth so clearly, directly, and penetratingly that their light will dispel mortal discords and bring forth instantaneous cure.