Questioner: Many of us are so caught up in our own activities, especially at this Christmas season, that we're inclined to think very little about the meaning of Christ in today's world. Christmas, of course, commemorates Christ, and in the wonderfully moving Christmas music, such as Handel's Messiah, we find rich promises that link Christ to healing.

Speaker: Yes. I love the passage in The Messiah that echoes these verses from Isaiah in the Bible (35:5, 6) : "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the cars of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.-'

The full scope of the healing mission of the Christ is indicated in another passage from Isaiah (61:1) : "The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Now, this brings out that the Christ heals. Jesus, the anointed one, was appointed by God to show mankind the way out of all evil through the Christ, Truth.

Questioner: Do you feel that this promise of healing has been fulfilled?

Speaker: Oh., yes. The effect of the Master's teachings was so beneficial that his fame was spread abroad. And he proved how practical his teaching was through his ministry of healing. He healed multitudes.

Questioner: I think that many people wish Christ the healer were available today.

Speaker: What does the term "Christ the healer" mean to you?

Questioner: It means the almost mystical power of Jesus to heal the unbeatable.

Speaker: Well, as we understand it, Christ Jesus' power to heal wasn't mystical. It was a practical science that can be understood today. To us Christ Jesus was the greatest teacher the world has ever known. He brought the most wonderful message that's ever been given to mankind. We gain great inspiration and encouragement from his exemplification of the eternal Christ, and we turn to the Bible to gain an understanding of the spiritual truths he taught.

Questioner: I wonder if you could clarify your use of the word "Christ" in relation to Jesus.

Speaker: In Christian Science we understand that Christ is the eternal Truth, or the true idea of God. Jesus, the human man, saw, revealed to mankind, and demonstrated the healing Christ. He showed that the office of the Christ is to liberate, to deliver, to heal, and to save. We love the Master. He's our Way-shower in everything that we do.

Questioner: Christ, then, to you is the exemplification of the goodness of God as expressed in Jesus?

Speaker: Yes. You may recall that before the Master was born the prophets healed the sick. They were able to do miraculous things through their understanding of the truth of God and man. When the Master said, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58), he was, as we see it, referring to the Christ, Truth, not to his physical selfhood. The Christ, the true idea of God and man, has always been here; it's here right now to be understood and lived.

Questioner: The Christmas season could have a double meaning then : not only the celebration of the birth of Jesus but also the exemplification of the power of God and Christ?

Speaker: That's right. We believe that Jesus saw the true nature of God and the true nature of man so perfectly that he could bring the light of the Christ, Truth, to an individual's darkened mortal concept of himself. He taught us to see man in his true eternal nature as God's spiritual expression, whole, complete, and not as a physical mortal. The result was spiritual awakening, and the natural outcome was healing.

To us the Christ is divine, and that divine Christ is understandable. The Master came to teach us how to recognize our true being as the children of God. And it's this Truth, or Christ, brought to bear in human experience today that enlightens and heals through spiritual means alone.

In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy writes (p. 332), "Christ is the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness." And elsewhere she writes (p. 473), "Jesus is the name of the man who, more than all other men, has presented Christ, the true idea of God, healing the sick and the sinning and destroying the power of death."

Questioner: But this healing work took place in the time and era of Jesus. I still don't see how this can apply to us today.

Speaker: Well, if what the Master taught was divinely true, it would still he true. Then it has not lost any of its power by the passing of time. If the healing Christ, or the power of eternal Truth, is always present, it heals now as it did in the time of Jesus. The more we awaken to the real nature of man and yield to this Christ, or Truth, letting it remove fear, hate, and sin from our thought, the more we experience the healing impact of the Christ in our own lives.

Questioner: You don't feel, then, that this Christ-healing you're referring to was a special gift that Jesus had?

Speaker: No. He didn't limit this healing power to himself or to those of his day. He said (John 14: 12), "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." The Christ is eternal. Because God is ever present, the Christ-power is always available.

I recall an experience that I had a number of years ago. I was serving in a Christian Science Reading Room in an older part of a large city. One day a woman came to the door. From her appearance it looked as if she was a streetwalker. And from the door she said, "I have just read the story of Mary Magdalene in your show window. Do you think that would apply to me?"

I replied, "Certainly it will." And I will never forget her answer. She said, "Take another look at me, fellow, and then tell me whether I can be helped or not."

I reassured her that the Christ is here for everyone who will be receptive to it, take it into consciousness, and live it. Well, she had her doubts, but nevertheless she returned day after day. She would come and ask questions from the door.

Finally she borrowed a copy of Science and Health and the Bible and began to study. Frequently she would come in and ask questions about what .she was studying.

Then for some little time we didn't see her at all. One day the librarian said that a woman was waiting to see me. I looked up and asked her what she wanted. Well, you know, she began to cry. She said, "Why, you don't even recognize me." And I didn't, the transformation was so complete. It was the same woman, but her whole appearance was different than it had been before. She told us that she had a good job and was leaving the city to take this position. And she was entirely free; she had a sense of joy and confidence in good.

Now, that's the effect of the redeeming Christ working in consciousness. The message of the Christ got through to her. She took it into her thinking and then began to live it. And the results were beautiful.