When Christ Jesus healed the sick and solved human problems, he proved that the utilization of the power of God brings instantaneous results. The student of Christian Science, striving to emulate the great Way-shower, sometimes wonders why his declarations of the truth of being are not attended by the same immediate healing. Perhaps it is because he does not act with the same conviction of spiritual identity that Jesus did.
When the Master turned in prayer to God to heal a case of sickness, he clearly realized man's true perfection as the image of God. But he was not content merely to think the truth; he acted consistently with it. He knew that the power of God enabled him to cast out evil, and on that basis he commanded the blind to receive their sight, the deaf to hear, the lepers to be clean, the palsied ones to rise and walk.
One of the finest lessons the writer has learned in the demonstration of spiritual power as taught in Christian Science is the necessity of implementing his declarations of truth with the specific application of them to the solutions of his problems. Mar)Baker Eddy writes in "Pulpit and Press" (p. 3), "Know, then, that you possess sovereign power to think and act rightly, and. that nothing can dispossess you of this heritage and trespass on Love."
The power to think and act rightly is God-given. Christian Science turns one directly to God as all-power, accepting the Bible assurance (Ps. 62:11), "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God." The realization that spiritual power is the only power, dividing its authority with none other and recognizing no other, not even a lower or subordinate power, is essential to effective healing effort.
It requires earnest and vigorous metaphysical activity to think rightly. The temptations to believe the illusions of physical sense testimony—the illusions of physical pleasure and discord—confront one by every human means of presentation and communication. Continual alertness is necessary in order to resist these temptations.
Also indispensable is our consecrated study of the Bible and of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy and the contemplation of the spiritual power inherent in an understanding that man is the reflection of perfect God, Spirit.
But the mere thinking and declaring of spiritual power is not of itself sufficient. The sovereignty of the spiritual power one professes to possess is tested in works of healing. It is not enough that a mathematician know the rules of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; he must employ them in the solution of problems.
A composer cannot be content with understanding the rules of melody and harmony; these must be co-ordinated in compositions. So it is in Christian Science. Whatever the problem, right thoughts and declarations need to be empowered by the expectancy and realization of their effectiveness in solving the problem.
One's sense of unemployment disappears when he finds himself busy expressing God; he cannot be worried over lack when occupied in utilizing spiritual ideas. One who is fully engrossed in the expression of spiritual selfhood cannot manifest disease, nor can one who is wholly concerned with manifesting Life, God, be fearing or consenting to death.
When one applies to a problem the fact of perfect God and perfect man, he must be as sure of a harmonious result as when he adds two and two. Christian Science treatment is not just thinking spiritual truths and declaring them; it is in reality seeing man as God created him and then, without a shade of doubt, accepting this spiritual perfection as the law governing individual experience. When this work is done on the basis of complete oneness, or unity, with God, the Scientist too can speak with power and authority and find his healings instantaneous.
The writer has discovered that when he has given himself a vigorous treatment in Christian Science, it is effective practice to act on the basis that this treatment has done its healing work. It has never aided his own healing for him to sit down and wait for a change in a physical condition before he accepted the fact of healing.
One day when the writer was out of doors on a picnic and was splitting kindling with a hatchet, he cut some flesh off his thumb, which bled profusely. He immediately and silently declared the truth that perfect God is reflected only by spiritual, perfect, incorporeal man. He covered the wound, asked his wife for help in Christian Science, and went right on chopping.
When the flow of blood did not immediately stanch, he quickly realized that having thought the truth and declared it mentally, it was necessary to act on the basis of perfection; he needed to stand on the fact that correct work brings healing. He saw that he was showing a sense of physical sovereignty, but it was mental sovereignty he needed to demonstrate.
First, he gave thanks for a previous instantaneous healing of an injury. Then he attained the conviction that the treatment itself included the healing. Lastly, with the spiritual assurance that all was well, he turned in thought from the experience to other things.
Pain and discomfort quickly disappeared. The next morning he concluded that he must accept healing by removing the bandage that he had placed on the thumb the night before. He did so and found that the flesh had grown back to its normal state. That afternoon he proved the lightness of this method of treating injury by typing the first draft of this article, using the thumb all afternoon without discomfort, stiffness, or untoward consequence.
It is right work in the face of difficulty for one to declare to himself that he is not sick, not injured, not poor. It is essential to realize that the only real power is spiritual and is of God; that one's only true selfhood is spiritual, one with and expressive of that divine power. It is imperative for one to know God and to realize His presence, at least in a measure.
This knowing of the truth in Christian Science is a must in the demonstration of the power to heal. And to get positive, quick results, it is equally a must for one to act as though he knows this truth. It is vital for him to go forward on the basis of the power and perfection that he has declared.
