Sincere students of Christian Science are always on guard against giving any power to the false beliefs engendered by error. As listeners, viewers, and readers these students are alert to mortal mind's subtle influence, which is evident through the continuous barrage of propaganda flowing from radio, television, and the press, urging material remedies for the solution of the problems facing mankind. Christian Scientists recognize the dangers inherent in this form of mass mesmerism and endeavor to follow the direction given by Mary Baker Eddy in the Manual of The Mother Church (Art. VIII, Sect. 6): "It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind." Each member should accept Truth as the only potent force to be used offensively and defensively against any illusion of power in error's thrusts. Human problems will then become opportunities to learn more of God and to demonstrate His omnipotence.
The daily recognition of the allness of God and of error's nothingness is the first step in building a secure foundation for an enduring defense against mortal, erring concepts. This recognition establishes the correct premise for all holy work and provides a substantial basis on which to solve the problem of being. That God is Truth and Love and that man is His image and likeness must be received, accepted, understood, and lived here and now.
The time to build a stronghold based on the Christ-idea is now. Through daily study of the Bible and the writings of Mrs. Eddy, the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures begins to unfold to us. Bible passages which may have seemed dark and obscure become clear and intelligible. Consistent, individual daily study results in spiritual growth. Day by day the bulwarks of faith become more firmly established in consciousness so that the radiant bloom of reality is understood on an ever-increasing scale.
Mrs. Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 234, 235), "Evil thoughts, lusts, and malicious purposes cannot go forth, like wandering pollen, from one human mind to another, finding unsuspected lodgment, if virtue and truth build a strong defence." Spiritual bulwarks are not founded on blind belief. Rather are they supported by a firm faith and based on an unwavering conviction in the omnipotence of God, and they are expressed through love and good deeds. Such a vibrant, active faith destroyed the walls of Jericho in Joshua's day. And later James pointedly stated (2:26), "Faith without works is dead." Works are the fruition of understanding, the outward manifestation of Truth, the evidence of man as the spiritual idea of God, ever progressing and developing from his unlimited, reflected source, the divine Mind.
A student of Christian Science and her mother, a Christian Science practitioner, went to visit a non-Christian Science member of their family in a sanatorium. They planned to take the relative for a short drive. As the student stepped from her car, she accidentally slammed the car door on her thumb. When the thumb was released, the pain was momentarily intense; also considerable blood was lost. A passing doctor, seeing the situation, took her by the arm and insisted that she go with him into the sanatorium's emergency room. While a nurse with a tourniquet stood by, he examined the finger, bandaged it, and advised the student to seek the services of a surgeon at once. He predicted that the finger would never be the same, that the nail would be lost, and that the student would soon faint.
It was not difficult for the student and her mother silently to deny the allegations of the doctor, because they had for many years daily defended themselves against false, human conjectures. The nonexistence of accidents in divine Mind and the truth concerning man and his relation to God were affirmed. The student did not faint; the bleeding stopped without the aid of a tourniquet; and she harmoniously accomplished the purpose of her visit, going with her relative for the intended drive. Several weeks later, with no surgeon but the divine Mind, the finger was completely healed, and the old nail was replaced by a new one.
This healing substantiates Mrs. Eddy's statement (Science and Health, p. 387), "The history of Christianity furnishes sublime proofs of the supporting influence and protecting power bestowed on man by his heavenly Father, omnipotent Mind, who gives man faith and understanding whereby to defend himself, not only from temptation, but from bodily suffering."
As students of Christian Science, we must be alert to the mesmeric influence of mortal mind's thrusts and daily guard our thinking against the unfounded beliefs of this mind, if we would experience what is good and true. We must awaken to error's subtle ways of attempting to accomplish its objectives, and we must immediately renounce them. We must see our problems as opportunities for experiencing more of God's goodness through sharing in the daily unfoldment of the divine plan for us. Faith with works opens the way to clearer perception and higher demonstration of the perfect man here and now. We are on guard when we build a strong fortress through receiving, accepting, understanding, and living Science each day.
