The frequent use of the word sedative in the world today challenges the thoughtful. Often the expected result of a material sedative is the coming of sleep, of temporary forgetfulness of some undesirable sensation or circumstance. However, those in need of help are in need of more than sleep and forgetfulness. There is need for the healing of the condition which demands relief.
Christian Science brings true calm and tranquillity by turning thought Godward to gain a better understanding of the source of all true harmony. God, divine Mind, is infinite good, and man, the image and likeness of God, is forever at one with Him. Understanding God produces inspired activity and joy. Peace comes through one's awakening to man's precious heritage of freedom from sin, disease, and death, because of his forever sonship with God. This is the scientific way to peace and happiness, the way of Truth, not the way of false belief in the comfort of matter, a way that engulfs one in the mesmerism of physical sense.
In the textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, there is a marginal heading, "Sedatives valueless." Science and Health, p. 416; The accompanying text shows that though a patient is put to sleep by belief in a drug, his ailment is unchanged until the false belief that produced the suffering is corrected. The question is then asked, "Where is the pain while the patient sleeps?"
To heal disease or fear of any kind, the false mortal sense must be replaced by the immortal truth of man's perfect selfhood as God's image and likeness, forever exempt from all error.
There are many things acting as palliatives today, such as material pleasures that are only distractions from problems and provide no solutions. Pastimes that are without profit or wholesomeness act as stultifying influences, deadening one's spiritual faculties and depriving him of God-given spontaneity and usefulness. Many diversions furnish their participants with excuses for not doing that which should be done for the good of themselves, their families, their churches, and mankind. The pursuit of wholesome fun is not wrong unless it becomes a substitute for joyous, constructive, useful activity. The difference is that of being asleep in mortal mind or awake in Truth. The Apostle Paul issued a timeless challenge for us all, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Eph. 5:14;
The arousing questions: "Will this glorify God? Will this help me to be my true self, the expression of divine Mind?" are calls to awaken from the deadness of mortal mind. Christian Science is no mournful religion, taking away that which is wholesome and happifying in human experience. Rather does it bring lasting joy, true companionship, brotherly love, and peaceful activity, whereby we reflect God. It does demand of us that we put God first. Those who have had the joy of being students of Christian Science for some time can point out many healings out of which grew progress into more harmonious living and true service. They can testify that they did not struggle to give up the attractions of matter by human will, but that, as the attraction of Spirit led to higher joys, the meaningless fell away, leaving them richer in Spirit and in the joys of Soul.
The desire to serve God will open the way to active progress. "God first" is a good standard to keep before us in daily work and play. Do we leave God behind when we go to the office, the factory, or the shop? Wherever man is, God is, for man is never separated for an instant from divine Mind. Man's true work is reflecting God, and as we claim our oneness, or unity, with Mind as Mind's expression, the right idea for every task will unfold to our expectant thought. Mrs. Eddy is quoted by an early worker as saying, "All my hours are His." We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Third Series, p. 42; This is true of every one who knows that he belongs to God first.
The executive, fed by spiritual ideas, brings the power of omnipotence and the wisdom of Mind to his decisions. The machinist finds his thought and actions systematized and his usefulness enlarged. The salesman, knowing that he and his customer are in reality children of God, resists the temptation to influence his customer erroneously but seeks divine guidance for the good of both. Those who have reached so-called retirement age find that their usefulness takes on new freshness and more varied activity when they remember that they reflect God and that all their hours are His.
We all need to turn aside frequendy to pray, "Thy will be done," Matt. 6:10; so that we shall not be led to pursue some human outlining or self-willed activity until resentment and fatigue take over our thinking. Many who would not think of taking material medicine are tempted to seek a false sense of rest or forgetfulness through material pursuits. They thus take into their thinking, in supposedly innocent ways, the dulling, mesmeric rhythms of mortal mind's attractions, which lead not to peace and harmony but only to mental turmoil. There can be no negative reaction to honest labor when it expresses the omniaction of divine Mind.
The writer, thinking that housework was uninteresting and quite wearisome, formed the habit of turning on the television as a diversion to dull the discomfort of her labors. There were interruptions, frustrations, and fatigue until one day she realized that she was using the television as a sedative. The next time, resolved to keep her thought occupied with spiritual ideas, she put on the record player a disc which included an article from one of the authorized Christian Science periodicals. With her thought held to the truth that was being poured forth, she was amazed at the amount of work done, much more than she had hoped for and in less time. The work had not changed, but her thought and body were renewed and fresh. Jesus said, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." 11:30; He who carried the burden of the world, truly lived in Spirit where burdens are unreal.
Many who would not use depressants, such as intoxicants and tobacco, may subject their thought to the heaviness of destructive gossip, negative discussions of local, national, or world problems, and other erroneous suggestions that make them forget that God governs His creation.
Christian Science brings the greatest peace that one can know. The Master, whose life was lived for mankind, remained awake while others slept. He did his work for us so faithfully that he could say: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27;
Our Leader, that faithful follower of the Master, gives us this guiding thought: "Through divine Science, Spirit, God, unites understanding to eternal harmony. The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace. Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress." Science and Health, p. 506.
