The word "panacea" is often used disparagingly. Can anything be a cure-all—a remedy for every ill and trouble? One result of this skepticism has been a proliferation of medical and psychological approaches that would divide a person into segments, each to be treated by a separate method.

Whatever one's problem seems to be, a fuller understanding of God always opens the way to an answer. The Bible, from which Christian Science receives its authority, states that God, Spirit, created man. So man is spiritual, and we need to understand this. Because God is man's only creator, man is whole and always supplied with both health and strength. This man—the true selfhood of every one of us—is conscious only of harmony. Disease, then, can be seen and proved to be an illusory, false mental concept.

Man is not a biological organism composed of various systems but a spiritual being, provided by God with all he needs for his well-being. This completeness is present now and can be realized through prayer. Speaking of the Christ—God's manifestation—Paul says, "And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power." ^{Col. 2:10.} The perfection of the real man is what Jesus saw, and it enabled him to correct every form of disease quickly and completely.

By humbly turning to our heavenly Father in prayer, we too can obtain relief from disease and other problems. Childlike trust is required, and a willingness to reject beliefs of materiality, lack, and physical law.

Is this too simple—really too good to be true? Sometimes we seem to resist giving up complex theories of cause and effect. Sophistication often breeds doubt. Jesus, with characteristic directness, valued simple receptivity and said, "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." ^{Mark 10:15.}

Have we prayed and seen few results? Are we, then, to conclude that prayer doesn't heal or that it is God's will for us to be sick or in trouble? No. More persistence is needed—or perhaps more trust in God's goodness, more gratitude, and, above all, deeper understanding.

Before healing can be realized, it may be necessary to free ourselves from the grip of some false attraction. The desire for the approval of others, the lure of material possessions, fascination with a person or persons—these can be replaced by a wholehearted desire to serve God. Mrs. Eddy has some strong words on this subject: "If man is not victorious over the passions, they crush out happiness, health, and manhood. Here Christian Science is the sovereign panacea, giving strength to the weakness of mortal mind,—strength from the immortal and omnipotent Mind,—and lifting humanity above itself into purer desires, even into spiritual power and good-will to man." ^{Science and Health, p. 407.} There is no surgery, drug, nor exercise capable of providing the peace and sense of well-being that come from a victory over selfish motives.

For more than a hundred years Christian Scientists have proved Science to be the panacea for physical ills, financial difficulties, relationship problems, and emotional disturbance. Thousands of verified testimonies in the periodicals of the Church of Christ, Scientist, bear witness to God's healing power. Prayer helps in every situation. "My God shall supply all your need," writes Paul, "according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." ^{Phil. 4:19.}

It is right and wise to turn to God, whatever our difficulty. The Lord's Prayer is a good place to begin. ^{See Matt. 6:9–13 .} The opening words, "Our Father," encourage us to trust all to Him, to know we are in His care, and to know that because He is All-in-all, evil has no power or reality.

The closing words, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever," remind us that God, who is Love, is truly governing our lives. In her spiritual interpretation of the Lord's Prayer, Mrs. Eddy gives this rendering of its final statement: "For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All." ^{Science and Health, p. 17.}

God's power, understood in Christian Science, is the remedy for all our ills and the best place for our wholehearted trust.