Man is a spiritual idea; he is not a material mechanism. He represents the unfolding inspiration of divine Mind and not the repetitious beliefs of material thinking. It is important in the healing of sickness and sin to know that man is not a creature of habit.

Habit refers most often to a mechanical process. Material scientists interpret habit in terms of the chemistry of the brain or of the body. Psychology describes habit in terms of repeated material stimuli and response. It is considered as action without conscious thought, and it is based on the belief that life and intelligence are in matter. This fundamental error has been uncovered by Mrs. Eddy in her discovery of Christian Science.

Much of what is defined as sin falls into the category of habit and is based upon the belief that intelligence is in matter. Individuals may feel that they are victims of their bodies, that they can't help themselves, and that they are involuntarily swept along with the general beliefs of mortal mind. Paul spoke of this in his letter to the Romans (7:19), "The good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."

Mrs. Eddy cuts through the mesmerism of this belief with clear precision. She says (Science and Health, p. 187): "There is no involuntary action. The divine Mind includes all action and volition, and man in Science is governed by this Mind." Here is the direct remedy for the one who thinks that he is a victim of habit.

Spirit is the divine intelligence that governs man. This control is conscious, intentional, and individual. Divine Mind knows its ideas fully and thoroughly. There is nothing hidden from the all-knowing Mind. There is no subconscious or unconscious state of being. Man is the direct reflection of divine intelligence. He is aware of God's ever-presence and is faithful in his response to divine direction. There is no place in this relationship for unthinking action.

There is nothing automatic or mechanical about the real man. He is a spiritual idea and is made up of the qualities of God. He is constantly unfolding in newness of expression because he represents infinite Mind. Therefore, he does not follow the patterns of mortal belief, and he is not repetitious. This fact helps to break the bonds of slavery to sinful habits.

Spiritual inspiration defies habitual thinking. It represents the new ideas of Soul breaking through the repeated patterns of mortal thought. Inspiration is necessary to healing, for it lifts human consciousness out of the mesmerism of repetition, out of belief of material modes, such as the theories about the chemistry of the brain, nerves, heredity, and so forth.

Various types of disease rest upon an unthinking acceptance of wrong beliefs about the body. What are called hereditary deficiencies may simply be a family habit of thought, a repetitious belief. We know that matter of itself has no power to transmit disease through hereditary processes. Ruts of thinking are as limiting to health and harmony as are ruts in the road to one driving a car. It is necessary to stir our thinking to a new and spiritual point of view, to cast off the belief of intelligence in matter, and to find out that man is the child of God.

Mrs. Eddy tells us in Science and Health (p. 176), "When the mechanism of the human mind gives place to the divine Mind, selfishness and sin, disease and death, will lose their foothold."

There may be many areas of our experience where better habits will prevail as thought grasps the higher nature of man. But eventually we must outgrow the belief of habit altogether.

Even what are called good habits should be critically examined. Man does not act unthinkingly.

If we attend church as a habit, if we study the Lesson-Sermon in the Christian Science Quarterly as a habit, we may be missing much of the spiritual import of what we are doing. This is not an argument against system or order, but a call for inspiration. There must be newness of thought and unfoldment to have progress. Inspiration is the very lifeblood of our church service.

Mrs. Eddy has ruled out formulas in the practice of Christian Science. She says in the Manual of The Mother Church (Art. VIII, Sect. 9), "No member shall use written formulas, nor permit his patients or pupils to use them, as auxiliaries to teaching Christian Science or for healing the sick." She knew that a method which employs formulas could easily degenerate into unthinking repetition.

Any form of ritualism may be mere repetition without thought. It has nothing to do with Christian Science. The spirit of the Christ, the spirit of Truth, is what we seek, for this is the light that dispels the darkness of error. The coming of Christ results in a change of thought and life and brings healing to the body and redemption to our experience.

Routine thinking, customary beliefs of limitation, chronic ill health are all forms of thought that may stultify experience until they are overturned and destroyed by the Christ, Truth. Through faithful application of Christian Science in the way our Leader directed, we can realize healing and redemption and know freedom from limitation. The Christ will lead us to the understanding that man is a spiritual idea, forever conscious, whole, and inspired, because he is the unfolding reflection of infinite Mind.

William Milford Correll