Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, has given to the world a practical, demonstrable religion. Through divine inspiration, Mrs. Eddy recognized that the teachings and healings of Christ Jesus were the result of his understanding of a fixed Principle and spiritual law. She recognized also that the divine Principle, God, and His spiritual law are available now, today. In II Corinthians, the Apostle Paul says (6:2), "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
In her book "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany," Mrs. Eddy says (p. 12), "We own no past, no future, we possess only now." And she continues: "If the reliable now is carelessly lost in speaking or in acting, it comes not back again. Whatever needs to be done which cannot be done now, God prepares the way for doing; while that which can be done now, but is not, increases our indebtedness to God. Faith in divine Love supplies the ever-present help and now, and gives the power to 'act in the living present.' "
Many have the desire for spiritual understanding and spiritual attainment, but how reluctant are some to accept the inexhaustible good, ever present and ever available! How many times have we heard it said: "On such and such a day, I will turn over a new leaf," or, "After I have had one more medical treatment, then I shall turn wholeheartedly to Christian Science."
The references from the Bible and from Mrs. Eddy's writings cited in this article show us clearly that now, today, is the time to turn wholeheartedly to God, "who healeth all... diseases" (Ps. 103:3). We may be tempted to say, "How can we accept the statement that now, today, health, harmony, happiness, supply, peace, companionship are here for all?" Possibly we are trying to find it in a material sense of existence, within the physical senses, instead of within the spiritual sense of life, where it really is and remains forever.
Jesus told us plainly that the kingdom of God or heaven, harmony, is within. Since it is within, we do not require time or change from without to get to it. We can, this very moment, become conscious of the Christ and of man's inseparability from God's goodness.
We have ample proofs in the Bible of Christ Jesus' instantaneous healings brought about because of his conscious at-one-ment with God. In John records (5:5-9): "A certain man... had an infirmity thirty and eight years.... Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked."
There is nothing mysterious about this system of healing, but individual effort and obedience are required, as they are in every worthwhile pursuit. Christ Jesus demanded that those whom he healed do their part by being obedient to his commands, such as, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."
The Christ-consciousness is here for all individually to accept and demonstrate. Mrs. Eddy says (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 365), "If the Scientist reaches his patient through divine Love, the healing work will be accomplished at one visit, and the disease will vanish into its native nothingness like dew before the morning sunshine."
We are called upon to be obedient and to do our part by spiritualizing our consciousness, by giving up false beliefs of life and intelligence in matter for the spiritual concept of our true being, which is in God, Spirit. As fear is replaced with confidence, revenge with forgiveness, criticism with justice, and procrastination with immediate action, one receives the correct answer to prayer, which results in healing, happiness, and success.
God, the divine Principle or infinite cause of all true being, knows nothing of time or of human problems. To Him, all is perfect now. As one turns wholeheartedly to God and obeys the rules as taught in Christian Science, he can expect and will experience instantaneous healing results.
Through the increased understanding of God and of man's relation to Him, one learns that neither the past nor the future, neither youth nor age, has any hold on one who understands that there is no law of time or superstition with power to deprive him of his divine heritage of infinite good.
This was proved to be true in the experience of a beginner in Christian Science who was suffering from sinus trouble. He visited a Christian Science practitioner and poured out his complaints and sufferings. The practitioner very patiently listened until he had finished his story, then showed him how to read the Bible Lesson, outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly, and told him to be confident and to trust God.
That evening the student left on an overnight business trip by train. Retiring to his berth, he was still very uncomfortable and his breathing quite labored. As he pondered the statements given him that afternoon by the practitioner, the fear subsided, and he fell asleep. He awakened the next morning completely healed. During the intervening twenty-five years there has been no return of this difficulty. A willingness to replace fear with confidence, and to trust God implicitly, helped to bring about complete harmony and freedom.
Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health (p. 39): "'Now,' cried the apostle, 'is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,'—meaning, not that now men must prepare for a future-world salvation, or safety, but that now is the time in which to experience that salvation in spirit and in life. Now is the time for so-called material pains and material pleasures to pass away, for both are unreal, because impossible in Science."
