IN the Christian Science practice of healing sickness or sin, the unreal or mortal man is eliminated from consciousness by the understanding of what constitutes the real or spiritual man. Our Leader says: "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick" (Science and Health, p. 476). As we learn in Science that a mortal is not the counterpart, but rather the counterfeit of the real or spiritual man, so we begin to see that the activity or means of gaining a livelihood, called business, stands for a spiritual idea, and the realization of this will prove the remedy for whatever is wrong.
As the material concept of man is the cause and foundation of sickness, sin, and death, so we see that the mortal concept is the open doorway through which pass the inharmony, discord, limitation, lack, failure, etc., which are so apparent in the business world. It will be readily admitted that these evils are not included in infinite Mind, God, and since the real man reflects and possesses this Mind only, the true consciousness of man is incapable of containing or being touched by them, as they are wholly separate from man. They are beliefs which must be improved, for the very claim of evil to existence is an erroneous mental concept which a knowledge of Truth remedies by the introduction of the right idea.
Since God is all, it follows that man's true business, which is to reflect the activity of Life, Truth, and Love. is the only real business. This correct thinking will lift thought above the worldly concept of a vocation, including all erroneous mortal mind methods and selfish aims, into the consciousness of the spiritual man's true activity, namely, his Father's business. We should therefore busy ourselves more in reflecting the nature of God, from whom we derive every quality and condition of our being, and thus help to free ourselves and humanity from the bondage of selfishness and self-seeking. The fruits of these efforts will be found to be a prosperous occupation, at once successful and harmonious.
