Since God is the only cause and creator, it follows in divine Science that all must be good; and, since God fills all space, there is no room for sickness. The realization of these facts brings health into one's consciousness and also the proof that in true being, God governs all in perfect harmony. Mary Baker Eddy says in "Rudimental Divine Science" (p. 11), "Health is the consciousness of the unreality of pain and disease; or, rather, the absolute consciousness of harmony and of nothing else."
Two questions arise: How can one gain "the consciousness of the unreality of pain and disease"? and, How can one gain the "consciousness of harmony and of nothing else"? Christian Science teaches that sickness is a mistaken belief, the outgrowth of fearful, ignorant, or sinful thinking, in which pain is merely the acceptance of error as reality. Sickness cannot be handled from the standpoint that it is something to be grappled with, but it must be approached as a lie, as nothing claiming to be something. The scientific and perfect remedy is found in the operation of Truth, the law of God brought to bear upon the problem.
It can be seen, then, that it is unscientific to approach the healing of a diseased person as though he were really sick and then attempt to heal on this basis. But it is scientific to know that it is only a false belief of sickness that needs to be healed. This falsity must be banished in order to make place for the truth to operate and reveal the spiritual, perfect man.
The perfection of man is as much a fact as is the mathematical equation three plus three are six, to the perfection of which nothing can be added or subtracted. A mathematical truth is competent to correct a multitude of errors in numbers. So, in our working to heal a belief of sickness, the truths of God, good, can be proved as the only laws governing man. Divine law acts upon the so-called human mind, bringing the proof that life, substance, and intelligence are spiritual qualities and are expressed by spiritual man, and that nothing can be taken from or added to this fact. To be conscious of the truth for even a brief time enables the human mind to relinquish its error and brings freedom from bodily complaints.
To realize one's spiritual identity as a child of God, as the expression of His perfection, wholeness, and completeness, enables one to gain the "consciousness of harmony and of nothing else." Health is included in spiritual man because it is included in Mind, God, having nothing to do with matter. Health is, in fact, a state of harmony, peace, joy, and happiness. Health belongs to all. The Scriptures tell us (Acts 17:28), "In him we live, and move, and have our being." We live because God is Life; we move because God is omniaction; we have our being because God is the origin, the source, of all being. Then one's true being includes all of the attributes of God.
The Master, Christ Jesus, demonstrated the consciousness of harmony wherever he was. He demonstrated its ever-presence and thus in a sense proved that there is no place in which inharmony and sickness can be. He instructed his disciples "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (Pref., p. xi), "The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus' time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their reality in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation."
The following incident shows how Principle operated in the experience of a couple who were traveling in Canada. The husband was suddenly stricken with painful intestinal trouble and continued to grow worse. As a hotel reservation for only one night was available because of the tourist season, the wife was fearful that they might be left stranded in a strange country. She remarked to her husband, "I am not going to have you sick on my hands here in Canada."
The husband replied, "Is there any place in which to be sick?"
This statement awakened her, and she answered: "No! In the realm of Mind there is no sickness. God did not make it, and He knows nothing of it; therefore it has no real entity."
Then came the realization that she must not see the condition as real or as attached to her husband, but only as a false belief masquerading as the truth. She realized that since God fills all space, His law destroys the belief in any other presence or power. By evening the husband's condition was quite normal, and he enjoyed a complete dinner.
While Christian Science makes it possible for all to be free from sickness, it has a greater mission, and that is to establish the realization of the harmony and perfection of man in God's image and likeness. In the measure that each demonstrates for himself that there is no place in which to be sick, poor, or unhappy, he furthers the world's ultimate realization that there is no place for these errors. Christian Science healing is practical demonstration of God's kingdom here and now.
