When Jesus said (Luke 17:21), "The kingdom of God is within you," he laid the foundation for the individual responsibility inherent in Christian Science. The awakening to this kingdom and hence to the completeness of man, in the image and likeness of God, is the answer to every problem in human experience. The coming of Christ is an individual affair.
In all our efforts to help our fellowmen, we must seek to reflect that divine wisdom that unfolds the kingdom of God within the individual. The demonstration of the Christ in healing sickness and sin plants the patient's feet on the truths of the Science of being. But in both teaching and healing, if we assume the responsibilities that belong to another, we prevent him from solving his problems and gaining the independence of God's image and likeness. Eventually, each one must stand on his own feet, do his own thinking, and reflect the power and capacity of the one Mind.
Jesus said to his disciples (John 16:7), "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you." He knew that they would tend to lean on him personally and that this would interfere with their progress. Each one must find the Christ in his own relationship to God.
