TO a practitioner of Christian Science was brought a patient afflicted with a disease which, according to medical science, if curable at all, would require long years of treatment. This case was cured by purely spiritual means in two weeks. But large scars remained. "Man is without blemish," declared the practitioner; and the patient held to this statement faithfully. In a year, the scars had completely disappeared.
Metaphysically considered, scars are nothing but a belief in the reality of a past injury. The belief that the scar is real is the result of the belief that the injury was real. But "Spirit is the life, substance, and continuity of all things," as Mrs. Eddy states in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 124). When the belief that some part of the so-called material body has been destroyed is replaced by the clear conviction of the truth that man, as the reflection of indestructible Spirit, is indestructible, no scar can remain.
While nothing can prevent us from being grateful for Christian Science treatment, which has relieved the belief of an injury or disease, yet while scars remain we must remember that that which never existed can leave no trace of its supposed existence. If we hold to the belief that a disease was real and was cured by Christian Science, we are not holding to the absolute truth of the situation. This should be remembered when giving public testimony of a Christian Science healing. For the benefit of all hearers, when the event is being described the usual language should be used rather than the new tongue; but we should be careful not to accept in our own thought or impress listeners with the belief that the condition was real. We must remember that if the disease had ever been real Christian Science could not have destroyed it. The testimony, though not so worded, is intended to emphasize that important scientific fact.
