How many times during the course of our daily activity do we find ourselves facing complicated and sometimes confusing situations that would defy immediate solution. How often have we wished for simple, direct ways in which to master them. In the complexity of modern society are we turning to material or to spiritual means for help with which to solve problems?
Paul said (II Cor. 11:3), "I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." This statement of the apostle to the Corinthians, although written about nineteen centuries ago, has lost none of its timeliness, wisdom, or practical Christianity for those who seek the truth.
Christ Jesus perceived clearly the simplicity of the Christ, as his words (John 10:30), "I and my Father are one," attest. Jesus understood the Christ to be the ideal and idea of Love, the one Mind, God. He realized that man, made in the image and likeness of God, good, is found in Christ, that he is spiritual, perfect, complete. Jesus proved that because man exists with the Father, there can be no life apart from God, good, that all being is harmonious, immortal, spiritual.
But what of the human experience? it may be asked. Is it not real? Speaking of mortals, the children of men, and of their supposed origin, Jesus said (John 8:44): "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
Christ Jesus, the Way-shower, lived the Christ ideal by healing the sick, raising the dead, and destroying evil in contradiction to the so-called laws of matter. His healing and missionary work proved that the simplicity of the Christ is to know no life apart from Deity. Anyone who is willing to follow Jesus' example and to seek to understand "the simplicity that is in Christ" may rise superior to a false sense of life in matter and find that his true being always has existed with God, immortal Life.
Such proved to be the experience of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. In 1866, when injured by a fall pronounced fatal by her physician, she asked for the Bible, and turning to the Gospel of Matthew she studied the account of Jesus' healing of a man sick with palsy. She rose at once and was in better health than she had ever enjoyed before.
Her healing led to her discovery of eternal Truth, the curative power Jesus taught and demonstrated. This power she found to be derived from Deity, the only cause and creator, whom she called Principle.
Mrs. Eddy's words as recorded on page 267 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" might be said to sum up the simplicity of the Christ: "Every object in material thought will be destroyed, but the spiritual idea, whose substance is in Mind, is eternal. The offspring of God start not from matter or ephemeral dust. They are in and of Spirit, divine Mind, and so forever continue. God is one. The allness of Deity is His oneness."
The simplicity of the Christ heals, that is, it restores, makes whole, those who seemingly find themselves believing they are apart from God, whether such believing manifests itself in the guise of sin, sickness, or death.
A young family of Christian Scientists found themselves presented with the opportunity to prove "the simplicity that is in Christ"' for themselves. A series of severe human problems confronted these young people as they prepared to leave one employment area for another. The reasons for change of location were sound: better home and living conditions, better schools, and a higher sense of service in the husband's chosen field of work.
Arguments of lack of time to get ready, insufficient funds, and other erroneous suggestions related to the necessities of moving seemed to intimidate this young family and to interfere with the orderliness and naturalness of right activity. A suitable purchaser for the house they were selling had not been found, even though it appeared to them as if appropriate and proper human measures had been taken to expedite the sale.
The situation grew tense and more complex as the date for leaving drew near. All avenues for a harmonious departure from the old community to the new seemed to be crowded with doubt and even desperation.
Then these young Christian Scientists turned in prayer to God, as they had been taught to do in Christian Science. They declared faithfully and realized clearly the Father-Mother's allness. They knew that God is Principle, the giver of all good; that He is always right, always present, always governing. They acknowledged gratefully their oneness, or unity, with Him, knowing that all of Love's ideas are fully supplied with all good, that they lack nothing, but that they enjoy the full heritage of being His dear children.
Not only did these young Christian Scientists proclaim these truths for themselves, but they asserted them for all mankind. The mists of doubt and desperation disappeared from this family's thinking, and in their stead appeared a deep and rich awareness of God's ever-loving tenderness and goodness.
Within a few days all human conditions, which had appeared to be complicated and confused, were resolved simply, naturally, and finally. The right buyer for the property made himself known in sufficient time to furnish funds with which the young family could move to their new location happily and comfortably. Joy and gratitude for the Father-Mother's eternal love for His ideas accompanied the family on their journey and continue to unfold in each member's daily experience.
Today countless others too are accepting and experiencing for themselves the glorious truths of the teachings of Christ Jesus and Christian Science. Divine Love is infinite and meets every human need. The simple truths of Christian Science can be proved by anyone who seeks to apply its rules sincerely and honestly. Every facet of this Science heals, for its very purpose is to enlighten and to heal, that is, to destroy false belief. There are no incurable diseases in divine Mind, the healer of all, as innumerable people have proved and are proving daily.
Complex human situations which seem to beset mankind are being reduced to their native nothingness, and the perfectness, the simplicity, of man's oneness with God as His reflection is appearing. The healing mission of the Christ goes forward unimpeded, blessing mankind and uniting all in one grand brotherhood. Spiritual fact rests on Principle. And the spiritual fact is that what God provides for one, He provides for all in "the simplicity that is in Christ."
