WHEN Nicodemus inquired concerning the mystery of the operation of Spirit, the Master replied, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Material sense has never been able to comprehend spiritual things, since "they are spiritually discerned." Christian Science, embodying the fulness of spiritual understanding, solves the mystery and affords an answer to every one who is willing to compare "spiritual things with spiritual."
Jesus ascribed his healing works to the Father. He also taught that it was the truth that liberated. If a physician had diagnosed the case of the Galilean woman according to modern methods, he would probably have referred to her infirmity as a physical condition, and might have named it rheumatism; but the Master spoke of her as one whom "Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years;" and of Satan he declared that he "abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him," which evidently meant that Satan has no real existence, does not truly abide, because he has no reality (no truth) in him. The Saviour cured the woman at once, thus proving by his success that he knew the real nature of disease and consequently knew the proper remedy therefor. He defined Satan as a liar, thus implying that the woman was bound by a lie. Since truth is the only thing that can destroy a lie, it follows logically that truth was the Master's remedy for sickness and sin, and he taught, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Thus it is logically shown that the Father who doeth the works is Truth, the one infinite Mind; and the Master prayed for the sick by rebuking the lie of the liar with God's truth.
Modern thinkers raise the question as to whether God's plan of healing is that of prayer, and this raises another query, namely, What constitutes prayer? It is quite evident that our Lord's prayers differed from those adopted by some of his professed followers, but they were none the less genuine. Prayer abstractly stated applies to whatever is essential to the utilization of the power of God in the overcoming of whatever is not Godlike, including sin and disease. It is evident that true and practical prayer means something more than a mere petition to our heavenly Father, a mere request that a certain thing shall be done, for thousands of petitions have failed to bring an answer, notwithstanding Jesus' promise to his disciples, "All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." The believing, therefore, seems to be the important thing, and it behooves us to discover what faith or believing means, and to avail ourselves thereof.
