What joy and freedom must come to the unjustly accused when the jury returns the verdict "Not guilty" and the judge pronounces it. Freedom has been restored to the defendant; he can be as other men. It is as if the windows of heaven had opened for him and poured out a blessing.

Today there are many who are in the prison of sickness, fear, or lack, longing for freedom and for the verdict "Not guilty." In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy gives a most interesting and unique allegory in which she tells of a man convicted of disease by health laws and sentenced to die. Christian Science is then summoned to act as counsel for the defense. After much testimony on both sides, the innocence of the accused is proved. The trial closes with these words (pp. 441, 442): "We have no trials for sickness before the tribunal of divine Spirit. There, Man is adjudged innocent of transgressing physical laws, because there are no such laws. Our statute is spiritual, our Government is divine. 'Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?'"

How can suffering humanity plead "Not guilty" to mortal mind's constant accusations of disease, lack, or unhappiness? These very helpful words in Science and Health give us light (p. 391): "When the body is supposed to say, 'I am sick,' never plead guilty. Since matter cannot talk, it must be mortal mind which speaks; therefore meet the intimation with a protest. If you say, 'I am sick,' you plead guilty. Then your adversary will deliver you to the judge (mortal mind), and the judge will sentence you."

We must be as vigorous and persistent in the denials of error as we would be if we were unjustly accused of committing a crime. One denial is not always sufficient. A preponderance of evidence of the truth regarding man must be introduced in order to counterbalance the accusations of the opposition, materia medica, physiology, and hygiene.

As a lawyer seeks authority from his statute books, so we have wonderful textbooks from which to get our authority, namely, the Bible and all of Mrs. Eddy's writings. They contain the evidence that man is spiritual, not material; that he is made in the image and likeness of God, Spirit, and is not organic or structural; that he is not born into matter and does not pass out of matter; indeed, that matter is no part of his being or identity. Further research discloses that man, created by God and given dominion over all the earth, is not governed or controlled by the so-called laws of physical science, but by the laws of God, Mind, Love, which are always operating for good, never evil. This evidence, when accepted and maintained courageously and persistently in spite of false evidence to the contrary, always secures a verdict of "Not guilty."

A young man who had been reared in a Christian Science home and Sunday School was training for an officer's commission in the armed forces when he suffered a serious knee injury. The medical authorities decreed the impossibility of this young man's continuing the strenuous physical activity which was included in his training. His enforced withdrawal from the full training schedule provided an opportunity for this young Christian Scientist to learn more of God and of his relationship to Him as His beloved son, and to plead his case in the Court of Spirit, where God is the only judge. He learned that he was not under any material law, but only under the law of God, the law of unceasing good, which was always protecting him and enabling him to have right activity. With the help of one of the Wartime Workers, made available through the loving ministrations of The Mother Church, this young man was healed so quickly that he was allowed to continue his full training and obtain his commission. He had won his case in the Court of Spirit, God!

The accusations of the carnal mind sometimes say that we are in a wrong environment, that we lack the right companionship or the means to keep up the standard of living to which we are accustomed; that our work is monotonous or does not provide an opportunity for progress. On and on go the suggestions of unhappiness, limitation, or frustration. But we can free ourselves from them by obeying this admonition from our Leader in "Christian Healing" (p. 10): "If you wish to be happy, argue with yourself on the side of happiness; take the side you wish to carry, and be careful not to talk on both sides, or to argue stronger for sorrow than for joy. You are the attorney for the case, and will win or lose according to your plea."

As we learn instantly to refute, deny, and contradict all suggestions of error and replace them with the counterfact of our true spiritual being, perfect and untouched by mortality, we can say as John did (Rev. 12:10), "I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."

Through the study and application of the truths taught in Christian Science many are gaining their physical and mental freedom and are stepping forth from the accusations of false belief into the sunlight of Truth and Love, facing their daily experiences with a steadfast conviction of the omnipotence of good and the knowledge of their God-given ability to say "Not guilty" to every suggestion of error.

The allegory mentioned in the first part of this article closes with this description of the accused: "Mortal Man, no longer sick and in prison, walked forth, his feet 'beautiful upon the mountains,' as of one 'that bringeth good tidings.'"