ONE of the temptations which comes to the earnest student of Christian Science is that which would cause him to believe it necessary to postpone the solution of some particular problem until a future time. In short, error would declare that God is not "a very present help," but rather that to-morrow, or next week, or some other time we may expect His aid. Such a suggestion bears within itself the seeds of discouragement, fear of possible failure, discontent, and disappointment; so that it behooves the searcher for Truth to regard as error any argument which would cause him to forget that Jesus declared plainly, referring to the Christ, Truth, "I am with you alway." Truth is ever present, always available; and neither the past nor the future can add to or detract from its present supreme potency.
How clearly our Master recognized this fact! He never gave any potency to time, either to strengthen or to loosen men's bonds. He did not acknowledge any code of false law as able to control or govern. He neither granted to disease the right to develop in power prior to its destruction, nor allowed a fever to run a course unchecked; but he instantaneously healed every form of sickness, immediately destroyed fever, and spoke the word which brought forth the dead, in defiance of every claim of time as able to influence man's harmony—and always in accordance with God's eternal law of unchanging good. The Gospels are replete with recitals of the Saviour's demonstrations of the power of the truth which he taught and proved to be always available, and abundantly adequate to refute every claim of evil. Beautiful, indeed, are these narratives, which point out so clearly that neither time nor process is necessary to scientific demonstration, but that they are mere mortal beliefs, which are eliminated as we rise to the higher understanding of Truth, through which healing takes place quickly and as the operation of divine law. Let us briefly consider a specific instance in the Master's experience which illustrates this fact.
It is recorded of "a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years," that she "had spent all that she had" in the quest for health, but "was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse." Undoubtedly, those to whom she had turned for help had done their utmost to relieve her of the distressing condition, but all to no avail. How many times hope must have sprung up within her, only to flicker out again as the various methods of treatment failed to bring the healing she so much desired! How full her cup of suffering must have been, and how bitter the disappointment and discouragement, as the condition seemed to grow worse instead of better! How frequently, too, the voice of the tempter must have been heard mocking her as her faith in matter and personality failed! But "man's extremity" has ever been "God's opportunity": the fame of the Master reached her. She was desperately in need of help, and she hastened to go to him. Once again, faith and hope filled her, while the memories of the years of suffering were undoubtedly forgotten as she hurried on, her one desire being to "touch but his clothes," in order that she might be made whole. Arriving at the place where he was, she found a great crowd gathered about him, so that she could not readily reach him ; but threading her way among the people, she drew nearer and still nearer, until at last she could touch the hem of his garment—and lo, she was healed! Her faith, purged of earthborn taints, had at that moment brought her into the presence of the Christ, Truth, and that moment of spiritualized consciousness sufficed to bring to her the long-sought healing. There was no need of a prolonged process: the simple act of reaching out to Truth in full assurance of faith was all that was needed. Neither did the human element of time enter into the healing work, for the natural action of the law of Life and Love spontaneously brought liberation.
