WHAT DO WE HEAR?

[Original article in French]

MARIE BERNATH

Many people each day turn on the radio. Whether it is to listen to a concert, a lecture, or the latest news, everyone wants the broadcast to come through clearly and without interference. Even when there is interference we know that the music itself is not touched, nor is the lecturer disturbed by it. The same holds true for man, the real man, created in the image of God.

In Christian Science we understand that fear, doubt, sin, and sickness are disturbances which may try to obstruct our spiritual hearing. These must be eliminated. Let us turn from our false mortal beliefs and lift our thoughts to divine Mind. Our dear Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, tells us in the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 89), "Spirit, God, is heard when the senses are silent."

Divine harmony knows nothing of anxiety, complaint, and discouragement. In spite of an apparently disturbing situation, we must remain calm and be ready to accept as true only the harmony of spiritual being. Let us not judge the state of man by the seeming condition of the physical body. And let us not think that it is necessary to destroy some evil power in order to make man harmonious and healthy. Man, created by God, is already perfect, for God said (Gen. 1:26), "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness," and we read (verse 31), "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Man is spiritual, not material. He is not constituted of physical senses. Christian Science teaches us that man's senses, created by God, are wholly pure and spiritual.

Christ Jesus said (Luke 8:18), "Take heed therefore how ye hear." Every day, every instant, we should be alert and carefully watch what we let into our thought. Perhaps we may be tempted to be upset and astonished by conversations regarding disease and its effects overheard on the street or on the train. At such times the watchful Christian Scientist refutes these false beliefs and takes refuge "in the secret place of the most High," where he can "abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Ps. 91:1). He does not listen to the deceptive testimony of the material senses, but listens to God's voice, and thus he is protected from inharmony.

In the Bible we read (Isa. 45: 22), "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." Obeying this call, following God's guidance, answering the call of good only—this enables us to become conscious of ever-present Spirit. Mrs. Eddy tells us (Science and Health, p. 505), "Spirit imparts the understanding which uplifts consciousness and leads into all truth." She adds, "This understanding is not intellectual, is not the result of scholarly attainments; it is the reality of all things brought to light."

At one time the writer had on her hand an ugly wart which bothered her very much. She determined to double her love for her neighbor and each day to refuse admittance to doubt, criticism, impatience, and other discordant thoughts which threatened to interfere with her spiritual understanding. At the end of a week she noticed happily that the wart had completely disappeared without leaving a trace.

Through our study of the Bible and our textbook we learn that perfection is the basis of reality. Mortals believe that man sins, becomes sick, and dies. They think that evil is a part of the reality of being and that existence is painful and uncertain. But since God saw that everything was very good, and since He has given man dominion, we have the right and the authority to deny the existence of inharmony or any false belief of sin, sickness, and death. Our dear Leader tells us on page 355 of Science and Health, "Let discord of every name and nature be heard no more, and let the harmonious and true sense of Life and being take possession of human consciousness."

In divine Love there is no fear and no discord. If it seems that something is trying to confuse us, let us know that the mighty harmonies of Love are always being broadcast. We may hear them continually when we silence the material senses. We do well to pray each day to be as humble and pure as Christ Jesus. In this way the false beliefs which we call interference will be eliminated, and we shall become conscious of perfection, health, abundance, and ever-present good.

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