The world owes Mrs. Eddy a lasting debt of gratitude for the splendid example she set for all mankind by living a loving life of true helpfulness to her fellow beings, and for her unfailing admission of the claims of good and her positive rejection of the claims of evil. She writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 167), "Our proportionate admission of the claims of good or of evil determines the harmony of our existence,—our health, our longevity, and our Christianity."
The unreal claims of material sense continually confront mankind, and notwithstanding their falsity, they cannot be ignored, but must be intelligently and correctly dealt with. The individual must avail himself of the truth of being in order to make a proper defense. Suppose an innocent man should be charged with the crime of forgery, and the court set the date for his trial, and the man entirely ignore the order of the court and fail to appear on the date set for his trial, or neglect to secure the services of an attorney to appear for him; he would lose his case by default, and judgment would be pronounced against him. His innocence of the crime wherewith he was charged, if undeclared, would not of itself be sufficient for his complete protection. He would have to be obedient to the order of the court, prepare and present a proper defense based on the facts of the case, thus proving and maintaining his innocency and preventing a judgment against him.
A clear understanding of Christian Science enables the individual to discern readily the difference between a legitimate claim of good and the false, unjust claim of evil, to admit the former and reject the latter. When Christ Jesus was besought by Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, to come and heal his only daughter, who "lay a dying," and heard the word of the messenger saying, "Thy daughter is dead," he immediately rejected the false beliefs of sickness and death with the words: "Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole." And when he had come into the house he said, "Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth." Then, to the astonishment of her parents and the others who had admitted the claims of evil, she was completely restored to life and health.
