HOST: Have you ever noticed how often some people talk about sickness? Apparently they feel it's normal to discuss the details of illness and just as normal to be ill.

"The Handbook of Industrial Relations" states: "A certain number of any group of people are either habitually ill or indisposed or think they are ill. It matters little whether they are truly ill or whether they just think they are unable to work, the absenteeism and the consequent loss of production are the same." [The Dartnell Corporation, Publishers, Chicago. Copyright, 1944, by John Cameron Aspley.]

Few people really want to feel that sickness is a normal experience or even a normal topic of conversation. But many do feel that their lives are blighted by illness and that they have to resign themselves to it. What do you say about this?

SPEAKER: Everybody has the right to be well. They may have been hounded by illness and resigned to living with the situation. But they can awake to their God-given right to be well. Then not only can they be well; they can stay well.

HOST: Granted that in some way our health does come to us from God, what bearing does this have on the everyday problem of keeping well?

SPEAKER: It has a direct bearing. It means that we have to look deeper than material processes or conditions to find out what health really is and how to keep it. As we see it in Christian Science, the right to be well is more than merely physical. It's found in our relationship to God. We understand God, who is infinite, perfect Spirit, to be the source of man's health. This is true because God is the creator of man. The teachings of the Master, Christ Jesus, show that we find dominion over illness when we understand God as the Giver not only of the right to be well but also of health itself. The Bible makes this clear:

HOST: What about the viewpoint that links health with certain physiological processes, with cells and tissues, with conditions of heredity and environment?

SPEAKER: Well, that view doesn't really begin to explore the heights or depths of the subject. Health is actually spiritual, not physical. People tend to think of it as frail, fleeting, subject to chance, dependent on material processes. But is it really logical to think of it that way if health does come to us from God? The Master didn't probe the physical condition of those he healed. But he caused "the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see." He did this through his higher understanding of man and the health God bestows on him.

All that God imparts is harmonious and good, active and eternal. The man of His creating is forever governed and controlled by laws of God, which are laws of good and good alone, because God is Love. Man's real substance is spiritual and pure, completely free of any defect. His functions and faculties, therefore, are perfect in every action. They're not subject to so-called laws of infection, deterioration, or impairment.

HOST: Some may feel these statements sound a bit unrealistic or theoretical in view of the ailments and disabilities that trouble so many people.

SPEAKER: Well, the Master proved that it's possible to demonstrate these truths we've mentioned when they're really understood and accepted. With great compassion and love, he brought to light the health and well-being that truly belong to man. He understood that man is in reality forever sound and well, because he's created by God, divine Spirit. It was Jesus' radiantly clear perception of man, made in God's likeness, that uplifted the multitudes and restored them to health.

In speaking of this in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy says (p. 259), "The divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted their lives higher than their poor thought-models would allow,—thoughts which presented man as fallen, sick, sinning, and dying."

The understanding of man's true nature and relationship to God awakens hope. It removes fear. It opens the door of our thoughts to God's love, to His goodness and care. It shows us our God-given right to be sound and well. It frees us from illness and disability. In the measure that we really understand the spiritual basis of man's well-being, we come to express more and more soundness, harmony, and lasting health.

HOST: I have an account here of someone who woke up to her God-given right to be well after years of extremely poor health. It's the experience of a woman in Berne, Switzerland. She says:

"From earliest childhood I was afflicted with epilepsy. I was given many kinds of medicine, but the doctors said there was no cure for me. The epileptic seizures caused me to lose control of my body and to bite my tongue severely. They came so frequently that there was no chance for my tongue to heal; so I was hampered in my speech. After I left school, I did light housework or cared for children. But wherever I went, whatever work I found, I was always doomed by my ailment. For this reason, I had to change places of employment often. A doctor who examined me at the request of one employer refused to approve me for the pension fund, stating that I would not live long.

"Finally after thirty-six years of suffering, I heard of Christian Science. I turned to a Christian Science practitioner, who encouraged me and lovingly helped me. I learned that God is a very present help in trouble and that as a spiritual child of God, I had a right to be healthy and well. This brought about a basic change in my life. All gloom and burden fell away from me. My health improved visibly.

"As I came to understand the operation of divine Love, I no longer gave earlier experiences another thought. I was especially helped by these words from the Bible (I John 4:16): 'We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.'

"Soon I was completely healed. When I applied again to be accepted for the pension fund, the same doctor who had examined me the first time was there. He was so surprised to see me that he could hardly find words. Finally he said to me, 'Why, you are perfectly normal.' And naturally this time I was accepted. There's never been any recurrence of the trouble."