A demonstration of Christian Science in the healing of sickness and discord or in the fulfillment of a long-awaited, joy-bringing event is a sacred experience. Whether the individual need is instantaneous healing or a step-by-step process of orderly and harmonious development, each demonstration signifies a clearer unfoldment of God's omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, thus proving the redeeming Christ-mission of Christian Science.
The term spiritual unfoldment in its highest sense describes the self-existence of God, Spirit, eternally manifesting Himself through man. It is the ceaseless functioning of divine Mind, expressing itself through its ideas in perfect harmony, order, and intelligence. Spiritual unfoldment indicates the self-perpetuating, vitalizing activity of God, eternal Life, manifested by His creation. It represents the eternal utterance of Truth, proclaiming through man its invariable and undiminishable omnipotence.
In its relation to human consciousness spiritual unfoldment is the revelation or discovery of divine reality. It is the dawning of spiritual truth, gradually dissolving the mists of material ignorance and bringing into accurate focus objects or ideas as they exist in Spirit. It loosens the restricting and enslaving bonds of mortality and establishes harmony, healing, and regeneration.
Concerning spiritual unfoldment, both from the absolute and from the human standpoint, Mary Baker Eddy says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 82): "Man is the offspring and idea of the Supreme Being, whose law is perfect and infinite. In obedience to this law, man is forever unfolding the endless beatitudes of Being; for he is the image and likeness of infinite Life. Truth, and Love. Infinite progression is concrete being, which finite mortals see and comprehend only as abstract glory. As mortal mind, or the material sense of life, is put off, the spiritual sense and Science of being is brought to light."
The daughter of a Christian Scientist was going through the experience of childbirth, and the attending obstetrician expressed apprehension as to the outcome. The mother worked and prayed earnestly to realize that eternal Life is ever expressing itself in order and harmony, and that there is no destructive or obstructive element to interfere with the operation of Truth and its laws of spiritual progression. But over and over again the suggestions of fear seemed to blurr her clear realization of these truths.
When, after some time, there still seemed to be no yielding of the error, the mother prayed in humble earnestness, "O Father, help me to know why my prayers do not seem to rise; why they seem to fall ineffectively to the ground." As an answer she was led to analyze her thought and found that she was working under a great self-imposed burden of human motherhood and of false responsibility because she believed that her daughter looked to her rather than to God and Christian Science for help. She realized that because of this her treatments were labored and theoretical, rather than spontaneous and inspired.
At once she purged her thought of personal sense, declaring God to be the only Father and Mother of man. She placed the responsibility for the entire demonstration upon Him, allowing her thought to be illumined by spiritual ideas, which now came abundantly. Her peace and confidence returned to her. She lost all sense of fear for her daughter and the child, knowing that God cared for each step and detail of spiritual unfoldment. Within a very short time a perfectly normal birth took place.
Just as the unfolding springtime, ever recurring in its beauty, freshness, and purity, presents the rhythmic round of nature's unfoldment, so each unfolding spiritual idea is really the revelation of that which has existed through all eternity, harmonious and complete. Again Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp. 518,519): "The divine Principle, or Spirit, comprehends and expresses all, and all must therefore be as perfect as the divine Principle is perfect. Nothing is new to Spirit. Nothing can he novel to eternal Mind, the author of all things, who from all eternity knoweth His own ideas."
In our effort to obtain healing and to progress spiritually the earnest study of the Scriptures and our Leader's writings, together with the application of the truths they contain, facilitates spiritual unfoldment and the putting off of the material sense of life for the Christ-idea. If in our work to demonstrate Christian Science the healing sometimes seems slow in appearing and the arguments of delay or obstruction dim our spiritual vision and expectation, it may be that we are watching matter too closely for the physical evidence of reconstruction or development. In absolute Truth there is no wasted substance or energy which need rebuilding; nothing needs mending, no new thing needs to be brought into being, since all that is real has existed from all eternity.
Since order is a fundamental law of divine Science, the unfoldment of the spiritual idea to human consciousness is ever in its proper order of appearing; God's love governs each detail of this activity. Human reason is not equal to divine wisdom; it cannot outline to the all-knowing Mind the circumstances or timeliness of its appearing. Absolute trust in God silences the arguments of delay, the fears of reversal or interference from any cause whatever, and renders thought receptive to Love's unfolding. No mortal law or lawlessness, no obstructive resistance, has power to prevent this appearing when thought is wide open to divine revelation.
In Science and Health we read (p. 506); "Through divine Science, Spirit. God unites understanding to eternal harmony. The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace. Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress." And she continues on the same page. "Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as He opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear." We need, therefore, no longer fear that the spiritual revelation necessary to the demonstration may be shut from our view, or that harmonious, progressive activity can be interrupted, since the impelling force of all demonstration is unfailing, ever-operative Love. Our only duty is to devote earnest thought to spiritualizing our thinking so that we may behold the divine purpose of God's creation, namely, to show forth His infinite divine nature.
Our Master, Christ Jesus, declared (Luke 17:21). "The kingdom of God is within you." In the revelation of Christian Science the impersonal Christ, Truth, is here and now unfolding to us the absolute Science of spiritual being. As we look in confidence to the Christ, Truth, for the fulfillment of every human need and permit divine Principle, through its laws of order and harmony, to operate in our behalf, we shall also pray with increasing fervency and true humility with the Psalmist (Ps. 90:16, 17): "Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it."
