A Powerful and practical statement of a provable spiritual fact is found on page 40 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. It reads, "Remove error from thought, and it will not appear in effect." The sin and sickness, lack and lust, the distress, hatred, malice, woes, and wars which confront the individual and nations today are the effects of the erroneous thinking of mankind. This thinking stems from the unenlightened concept of God and man and of man's relationship to his Maker. Christian Science proves that the remedy lies in removing error from thought by flooding it with Love.
Obviously falsities are not removed from consciousness by crowding it with pleasurable activities, with demanding human duties, or even with seemingly worthy enterprises. Such means may temporarily crowd the falsities into the mental background, but they do not purify and spiritualize thought and thereby bring healing.
In order to remove error from thought we must cultivate the art of listening to the Christly message, which declares the perfection of God and His creation, and learn to hear that message clearly. If true obedience be lacking, the spiritual ability to hear is not attained. Obedience to the divine command must go hand in hand with hearing the command. Is not this what Jesus meant when he said (Mark 8:18): "Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?" Hearing then is dependent upon our obedient response to the Christly message. How true it is that we consciously see and hear divinely from the point of elevation of our spirituality. A simple illustration may help to make this clear. It is quite possible for two individuals seated side by side at a concert listening to the glowing music of Beethoven to have different experiences. One feels an inward response, for he understands the message of the master musician. The other, while he is aware of the music, experiences little response, for he is not conscious of the message; therefore he does not truly hear it. How vitally important it is to keep attuned to the message of Soul through listening and hearing when Spirit speaks. How clearly the listening, hearing, and obedience are expressed or implied in the first verse of that well-beloved poem by Mrs. Eddy (Poems, p. 14):
