MUCH is said about demonstration in Christian Science; but not infrequently, also, is heard the assertion that someone is not making his demonstration. Many times some specific result is outlined as the desired outcome of metaphysical work; and when this expected manifestation does not appear, one may be tempted to feel that the demonstration is not being made.
Demonstration in Christian Science means proving that God's law is ever present and ever available. Suppose one to be in an inharmonious environment or to be suffering from persecution; one need not feel that he is failing in his application of the truth if the situation does not immediately change. He must stand steadfast in his understanding of God's allness, and prove that spiritual vision, joy, and peace do not depend upon material conditions. In speaking of a certain phase of persecution, our Leader says in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 143), "I do not regard this attack upon me as a trial, for when these things cease to bless they will cease to occur."
Making a demonstration in Christian Science affords opportunity for self-correction. God being omnipresent, no inharmonious situation exists in reality. Mortals merely see what they believe about any situation. Mrs. Eddy makes this clear in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 86), when she says, "Mortal mind sees what it believes as certainly as it believes what it sees." Is it not evident, then, that whatever a trial may seem to be, it is an opportunity for one to prove or demonstrate the truth, as revealed in Christian Science, that man, God's likeness, is ever free, harmonious, and perfectly cared for by his heavenly Father, regardless of the claims of the material senses?
