The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick.—Isaiah.
In evidence of the great change which is coming over popular opinion with respect to disease, we have some very startling statements from the celebrated English physician and surgeon, Sir Frederick Treves, at the opening of a new hospital at Preston, Lancashire. Among other things, he said he could "only wish the hospital one thing, and that is that it may remain always empty." He went on to say that he was certain the time would come when hospitals for infectious diseases "will be empty and not wanted." He also said that the obliteration of disease would not be brought about by what he called people's "extraordinary habit of taking medicine when they are sick." He proposed to prevent disease by "simple living, suitable diet, plenty of sun, and plenty of fresh air." Sir Frederick reminded his hearers that primitive man had to protect himself against wild beasts and also against his fellow-men, — enemies which could be counted by tens and by hundreds,—but that men are now menaced by "an enemy which can be reckoned in many millions, and that is the microbe of disease." He went on, "The tubercle is killing fifty thousand people per annum. Not one of those persons need die."
It is noteworthy that in this entire speech and the other speeches made on the same occasion, there is no hint of the mental factor, much less the spiritual, in the cause and cure of disease,—no hint that moral conditions have to be reckoned with in dealing with so-called physical ills. We do not urge this point in any critical spirit, but because we rejoice in everything which makes for real progress, and we would not have the vital element ignored in dealing with a question which concerns the welfare of all mankind. The contention of Christian Science is, that man is a spiritual being, spiritual in his origin and ultimate (Science and Health, p. 63), and that his needs can never be provided for while this fact, with all it implies, is ignored.
There can be no doubt that cleanliness and sunshine are better than their opposites, but what about the great Teacher's words, that "nothing from without a man . . . can defile him," and that defilement springs from "evil thoughts." Jesus also taught that if we "first" make clean that which is within, that which is without will be clean also. When human thought is purified by divine Truth it will demand cleanness in every smallest detail of existence. That Christian Scientists love cleanliness and sunshine is evidenced by all their places of worship, from the small "upper room" in which some society holds its services, to the stately Mother Church, but this purity is the result of mental and moral health, not the cause of it.
The experiences, past and present, of Christian Scientists all go to show that bodily healing is well-nigh impossible, even with what are regarded as the most favorable conditions, when fear holds sway and when the spiritual law of healing is unknown. This is illustrated in many of the testimonies published in our periodicals, notably so in that of David H. Biles, which begins on page 301 of this number of the Journal. Here is a case where pure mountain air, sunshine, and "simple living" were tried in vain by a number of sufferers; and this is no solitary instance, but it recalls forcibly the Master's words, "O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee." As soon as one of these sufferers began to know the Father,—the all-presence and all-power of the divine Life as made known in Christian Science,—his healing began and went on to a happy and permanent result.
Christian Scientists rejoice in the admission that diseases may be stamped out, one after the other, but they know that until mortal mind gives up its false claim to power over mortals there can be no true basis for harmony, and civilization is apt to be burdened with more subtle and distressing forms of disease than those known to a ruder day. Of what avail is it to drive out one disease only to make place for another, and to keep mankind in a state of anxiety and unrest in carrying out the preventive measures deemed necessary under a belief in material health laws? Is it not well worth while to look "into the perfect law of liberty," to quote St. James, and to find therein freedom from sin and sickness alike?
While the obliteration of all sin and disease from human consciousness may seem a stupendous task, we are cheered on in Christian Science by knowing that to the divine Mind the eternal harmony is uninterrupted, and even a glimpse of this great truth ofttimes brings results that are startling to the sufferer and his friends. Forty years ago our revered Leader stood alone as a witness to Truth's unchanged healing power through all the ages; to-day there is "a multitude that no man can number" who are being enrolled with those who proved this power in the ministry of the Nazarene Prophet. Into their lives has come the sunshine that abides with them and heals all their diseases; God omnipotent is to them "an everlasting light;" and they hold fast the promise that all shall know the truth, and "I the Lord will hasten it in his time."
