Students of Christian Science throughout the world have found that they have a very practical religion. When its rules are honestly applied and the thinking of its students is brought into line with the truth that Jesus taught and practiced, this metaphysical Science heals physical inharmonies in a way that appears surprising to the casual observer. Until one comes to see that what appear to be inharmonies are only the evidence of wrong thinking—of a lack of understanding of man's true being as the perfect spiritual child of God, infinite Spirit—he may not believe that correcting thought through spiritual understanding results in correcting seeming material conditions.

Mankind is constantly faced with the belief of an imperfect life in matter and with the suggestion of material power, even as Jesus was when he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. The warfare with the belief of flesh must go on until we fully demonstrate matter's nothingness; but it goes on only in thought, though its victories are manifested in the healing of what seem to be material conditions.

When John's disciples asked Jesus if the gospel he was preaching was the truth which they all had sought for so long, Jesus said (Matt. 11:4, 5), "Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." Although Jesus' teachings were the ultimate of spirituality, he gave us the proof of their practicality by healing sin, disease, and death. So we, by applying the spiritual truths of the Bible, demonstrate our understanding of these by healing all manner of discord.

In our study of Jesus' teachings and healings it is most important to note that he resorted to no material remedies in showing forth the perfection of man. Sometimes he would do something to symbolize the spiritual action, as when he anointed the blind man's eyes with clay and then asked him to wash in the pool of Siloam, but he sought no material cures. It is the same now as then; if we are to see the perfect man, we must cast off all materiality. When we see that in reality all action is mental, it becomes absurd to us to think that matter can aid in establishing right action. Likewise, we would surely not call on matter to help us prove the superiority of Spirit over matter.

In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 253, 254) Mary Baker Eddy makes a statement which has brought much enlightenment to the writer. She says, "The divine demand, 'Be ye therefore perfect,' is scientific, and the human footsteps leading to perfection are indispensable." It has interested the writer to note that our Leader says and the human footsteps, not but the human footsteps.

Without reasoning it out clearly, a young man used to think of human footsteps as the necessary material things that one sometimes does when faced with what seems to be a hard situation to be overcome or a difficult decision to be made. He had often heard people speak of taking proper human footsteps and thought of them as material steppingstones taken to help the metaphysical work along. Therefore, when he was presented with what looked like a very advantageous business proposition, it seemed only natural to him, after asking a Christian Science practitioner for help, to set about earnestly to take proper human footsteps. He laid great stress on getting the best legal and fiscal advice, and after he had weighed all the evidence he felt very confident in making a decision to go into the business venture, largely on the basis of that legal and financial information.

But soon after he began his new work his feet started to pain him, so that he could hardly get around the city to see his customers. Such a thing never had happened to him before, and when after a few days the pain did not yield to his somewhat perfunctory work in Christian Science, he saw that more serious work was needed. On the basis of the teachings of Christian Science and as a result of previous experience he realized that the pain he seemed to be experiencing was alerting him to some mistake in his thinking. So he took the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings, and the Concordances to these books, and earnestly sought the healing truth which would correct his thinking and thus permanently destroy the false belief of ailing feet.

As he prayed earnestly it became very evident to the student that he had to overcome a false sense of responsibility for starting his new business. He remembered what the prophet Isaiah had said when referring to the coming of the Messiah (52:7): "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace." And the student was led to think of the footsteps of our Master and the way the Bible admonishes us to "walk worthy of the Lord." In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says (p. 192), "We walk in the footsteps of Truth and Love by following the example of our Master in the understanding of divine metaphysics." It became clear that the human footsteps one needs to take are in the direction of the spiritual understanding of divine metaphysics—toward the realization of the spiritual nature of all being.

Furthermore, Mrs. Eddy's words in the passage quoted earlier stood out with new meaning for the writer. He reasoned that it is "the human footsteps leading to perfection" which are indispensable. He saw that merely material footsteps could not lead to perfection but must, by their very nature, lead into more matter and farther away from the possibility of perfection. Perfection cannot be realized until merely material footsteps are abandoned.

What, then, of the human action taken before going into the business? Was it wrong? Should one sit back and wait for things to happen? No. It is right for us to expect to be guided into right human action; but we must be sure that our human footsteps are always and only in the direction of the realization of man's present perfection. Our Leader says (Science and Health, p. 254): "When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs our path. Imperfect mortals grasp the ultimate of spiritual perfection slowly; but to begin aright and to continue the strife of demonstrating the great problem of being, is doing much."

Through this line of reasoning based upon spiritual truth not only was the student instantly healed of the belief of foot trouble, but his understanding of real business and of his part in it was greatly improved. He had a more complete sense of freedom than he had had before the incident, because he had uncovered and eliminated the false sense of responsibility in his thinking. Spiritual truths completely replaced the erroneous beliefs manifested in inharmonious material conditions.

Daily the presence and availability of the Christ are proved beyond a question of doubt by consecrated Christian Scientists; and we are all thus helped to a clearer realization of man's present perfection as the child of God.