Until instructed by Christian Science to make practical use of the Scriptural declaration that in God "we live, and move, and have our being," how easily is a mortal's outlook on life, and the state of his health, affected by the atmospheric changes of heat and cold, of storm and sunshine. Taught by materia medica and hygiene to consider himself a victim of circumstances, of which sudden changes in the weather play a very important part, he implicitly believes that a cold wave or a continuation of rain is directly responsible for some ailment from which he may at the time be suffering. The student of Christian Science is, however, taught to look in another direction for that which will safeguard his health, as we learn from Mrs. Eddy's teachings; and her reference to "man's moral mercury" on page 449 of Science and Health, is well worth considering.
Before Christian Science breaks the tyranny of the mesmeric dream of life in matter, how little attention the average man gives to the temperature of his thoughts, to the atmosphere of his own mentality. If he succeeds in outwardly keeping his temper, and in appearing courteous and well bred, he is not apt to consider how far afield his thoughts may be roaming in company with suppressed fear, anger, jealousy, pride of opinion, or a secret sense of personal importance. He does not realize the chilling, contracting effect on himself and others of such unexpressed thoughts, or the necessity of grappling with and controlling them, if he would be truly happy and well.
When Christian Science comes into a man's life, a wonderful transformation takes place, for to understand that God is Love and that He sends to His children neither disease nor misfortune, is to emerge from under a threatening cloud of fear and superstition into the warm, life-giving sunlight of spiritual peace and safety. Gradually he awakens to the fact that since divine Mind and this Mind's idea constitute the whole of being, he lives in a mental world, the experiences which make up his everyday existence being the outward manifestation of correct or erroneous thought. The only atmosphere that can be injurious to him is the miasma of wrong thinking; the only barometric pressure he need be concerned with watching is the "moral mercury" of his individual motives and affections, which faithfully register the condition of his health and his progress Godward.
