In the Bible we read that God's first command was (Gen. 1:3), "Let there be light." Christian Science shows clearly that God's light comes to us through revelation and inspiration—through the unfolding of spiritual ideas. It is spiritual illumination, the light of Truth, the light of the Christ.

Both before and after the advent of Jesus those whose thought was prepared spiritually to receive Truth were spiritually illumined by the light of the Christ. It illumined the thought of Isaiah so that he foretold the coming of the Messiah. This prophet wrote (Isa. 9:2), "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined."

It was Christlikeness and spirituality, based upon the understanding of the perfection of God and of man as His image, that enabled Jesus to heal sickness and sin and to overcome every problem presented to him, even death itself. The multitudes thronged him, bringing to him those that were in need of healing; and they were healed immediately. The Way-shower knew that what appeared to be a sick, sinful, or dying person was not the truth of man's being, but merely the false evidence of material sense, to be rejected and denied. His spiritually illumined consciousness—the Christ-consciousness—beheld man forever perfect, the image and likeness of God.

In the year 1866 Mary Baker Eddy met with a severe accident from which her physician did not expect her to recover. Mrs. Eddy asked to be left alone, and taking her Bible, she read Matthew's account of Jesus healing the palsied man. As she read, it was revealed to her that God is Life and that the evidences of the senses—sin, sickness, and death—are false, wholly illusive. In an hour of darkness, the light of the Christ shone in her consciousness and she was healed. She discovered the Science of Christ, or Christian Science, as she named it.

Our beloved Leader states (Science and Health, p. 461): "Only by the illumination of the spiritual sense, can the light of understanding be thrown upon this Science, because Science reverses the evidence before the material senses and furnishes the eternal interpretation of God and man." The Science of Christ, which is found in the Bible, reveals God, Spirit, to be the only creator; reveals but one creation, the spiritual creation. It reveals God, Spirit, as the only substance and man as spiritual, the child of God, His image and likeness. This Science also discloses that Spirit never created, and cannot create, matter; that matter is not substance; that matter is false, nonexistent. It discloses, too, that God, infinite good, did not and cannot create evil of any kind. What appears in human experience as evil—sickness, sin, disaster, lack, grief, death—is the evidence of the five material senses, evidence which is false, wholly unreal.

The consciousness which is spiritually illumined by the light of the Christ is able clearly to distinguish between reality and unreality. How can we demonstrate this consciousness which is spiritually illumined by the light of the Christ? We can make way for this light by spiritualizing and purifying our consciousness: by watching our thinking to be sure that we distinguish between right and wrong thoughts; by always being on guard, admitting only right or spiritual thoughts and barring out the wrong, material concepts.

The Christ is able to pierce the darkness of materiality. One gleam of the light of Truth entering consciousness begins at once to bring reformation, purification, and healing; and it can transform thoughts, words, and deeds; in fact, the whole life of the individual. No matter what the human problem seems to be, it can be solved; no matter what the apparent physical difficulty is, it can be healed; no matter what the grief is, it can be removed. Mrs. Eddy says (Science and Health, p. 510): "Truth and Love enlighten the understanding, in whose 'light shall we see light;' and this illumination is reflected spiritually by all who walk in the light and turn away from a false material sense."

My sister and I became orphans when schoolgirls. I was the elder and was very much attached to her. When only a young woman, she passed on, leaving me alone. Through reliance on Christian Science my grief was quickly overcome and I was enabled to attend a Wednesday testimony meeting the very day my sister passed on; yet I had a great sense of being burdened, of having come through six months of mental and physical strain, due to her illness.

When thinking or speaking of myself, I always said, "I'm bearing a burden," for that was how I felt. A physical difficulty soon manifested itself. This condition continued for some time. Then one day as I was singing the last line of Hymn No. 145 in the Christian Science Hymnal, "And we His image bear," the truth shone in my consciousness. The spiritual illumination was so clear that it was as if a light had flashed before my eyes. At the same instant I realized that in my true selfhood I could never bear a burden. All I could ever bear was the image of God. It was an instantaneous healing. The sense of bearing a burden vanished and with it the physical difficulty. It was a wonderful, sacred experience. Many times I have relived that moment, and I shall always be grateful to God for this healing.

The world of today is in great need of spiritual illumination. What can solve the world's problems, national and international? What can prevent strikes and lockouts and settle disputes arising between capital and labor? What can remove dishonesty and graft and reinstate sincerity and uprightness? What can abolish bondage and bring freedom? What can purify the hearts and motives of men, banish greed, domination, and warfare? What can promote peace, establish the brotherhood of man, and unify the nations? Spiritual illumination alone—the light of Truth, the light of the Christ.