Christian Science teaches that the dream called disease, as well as all the rest of the sad array of prevalent unhappiness, confusion, or lack, is due to faults in human thinking, or the acceptance of some erroneous belief or supposititious law. Thus the primal need is change of thought. Whatever healing is required, it is spiritually mental activity which will bring it about. Real thinking is reflecting God's knowing and is always spiritual, active, healing, blessed. In the truth of being the only activity there is, is mental activity, the expression of the one perfect Mind.
On page 233 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy has said: "The counter fact relative to any disease is required to cure it. The utterance of truth is designed to rebuke and destroy error." Thus the purpose of the truth that we are uttering is "to rebuke and destroy error"—not to change man, heal a real disease, or eliminate a fact, all of which would be impossible. All that even seems to need destruction is error, unreality. For to the real man there is no fear, no deterioration, no age, no failure. Disease has, in fact, no development, no tenacity, no continuity, no reality.
The counterfacts which we are able to apply to disease or other problems will be specific and intelligent in the measure of our spiritual discernment, our experience in healing, and our information about the case. Generally we are able to do better and more effective work if we know whether inaction, stagnation, apathy, tension seem to need correction, or overaction, disorder, confusion, excitement seem to cause the problem; whether belief in unkindness, accident, selfishness, or timidity needs to be healed, or whether vice, laziness, hatred, or fear needs to be nullified. Perceiving the seeming defect with more or less exactness, we may better realize the appropriate counterfact. Not only may this result in greater efficiency, but it makes our mental work more varied, interesting, and spontaneous, ensures against routine and monotony, and gives it freshness and vitality.
