Reject—accept—expect. What do these three words have to do with Christian Science? How can we use them in healing?

Reject—that's a strong word, isn't it? In Christian Science treatment, or healing prayer, one learns that it is necessary to see evil, or error, as unreal and to reject it from his consciousness.

"What good will that do?" some may ask. Well, simply this: by un seeing the trouble, by realizing that it is no part of our true being, which is the spiritual image of God, we separate ourselves from it. Hence, by rejecting, or throwing out, a belief in sickness, sadness, sin, or anything that's not good, we clear our channels of thought and make way for God's goodness. Which leads us to the second word, accept.

Have you ever found yourself dragging trouble around saying, "This isn't real, this isn't true, God didn't create it," and then wondering, "Why haven't I been healed?" Certainly denying error's reality is a great step in the right direction. But the next step is to affirm what is true by accepting your perfection as God's creation.

Let's say you want to plant some vegetables, but the soil in your yard isn't right. You carefully dig up the bad soil—great! But there's no way those vegetables are going to grow there until you fill that hole with good soil and plant some seed. It makes sense, then, to say that after rejecting unfit, unproductive thoughts, we should accept right away the absolute perfection of both God and man. This way, instead of leaving your consciousness open to more evil, you're filling it with what really belongs there.

In an article, "What Our Leader Says," Mary Baker Eddy writes, "Beloved Christian Scientists, keep your minds so filled with Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and death cannot enter them. It is plain that nothing can be added to the mind already full." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 210;}

All right, you've rejected evil, accepted good. Now what about that third word, "expect"? In my life, I have found that after a healing has taken place, or a problem has been worked out, expecting good to continue affirms my understanding of the Christ, Truth. In reality, good isn't just sometimes present; it's always with us.

A dictionary states, "Expect implies a high degree of certainty and usually involves the idea of preparing or envisioning." So, preparing ourselves for spiritual good and knowing it to be ever present strengthens our trust in God's allness.

Someone told me that a young child, with whom I had become a very close friend, had lost his life. I prayed to free myself from the belief that this tragedy could possibly touch one of God's children. And, then, accepting wholeheartedly the truth that God is Life and Life is eternal, I had to admit that it cannot be lost. So, I had to expect the child to go on living a joyous, active, spirited life. I (and everyone else) would continue reflecting divine Life in this way, too, never lacking anything.

I never was grief-stricken or sorrowful from this experience, but have seen that joy and gratitude to God for being our true Life frees us from death and sadness. Christ Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." ^{John 8:32.} This Truth he spoke of is the Christ that heals.

So you see, these three ideas really are quite closely related. Whether you rely on them to overcome sickness, to solve a problem in human relationships, or to win back a feeling of joy when something's been getting you down, they always work.

Open thou mine eyes,
that I may behold
wondrous things
out of thy law.

Psalm 119:18