Article May 15, 1965 Issue

Healing from the Hymns

MARION M. BISHOP

A hymn is a song of praise to God. Throughout the Bible we are urged to sing unto the Lord, to praise Him, to lift up our voice to Him. These hymns or psalms contain healing, restoring one to wholeness. This was recognized by devout Christians as long ago as the year 1609, for in Germany this name was then given to the Psalter: "The Pharmacy of David: a powerful-to-heal and well-equipped Art of Medicine from the spiritually rich and holy (literally Psalter" (Hymnal Notes, No. 168).

This apt description fits the Christian Science Hymnal, full of joyous songs praising God for His allness and goodness. We sing them to acknowledge that we know Him and are His children, that all is well, and that in reality nothing has to be healed or changed. The result of this joyous knowing is the harmonizing of whatever seems to be discordant or to need healing.

From the Bible we learn that good alone is real and true, for God made all and called it "very good" (Gen. 1:31). Christian Science teaches that God is not only ever present but the only presence, not only powerful but the only power, that God is Mind, the source of all true thoughts, completely perfect. When we know these facts, the results appear in our lives as health and serenity, for thought determines experience.

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