Programs to restore lives and property, rehabilitation schemes aiming to help drug addicts, convicts, disaster victims, attempts to restore run-down areas in cities, renovation of historic buildings—surrounded by such programs of human readjustment and repair, we may not fully realize the importance of spiritual rehabilitation.
Almost two thousand years ago Christ Jesus restored purity to the debased, health to the ill and lame; he gave men a new sense of individual worth. His rehabilitation program had a spiritual foundation. It did not merely readjust; it healed.
For a few centuries after Christ Jesus, the ministry of healing was, to some extent, carried on as a natural effect of the Christian teachings. Today, the world has once again been able to witness restoration through spiritual means. The Manual of The Mother Church refers to Mrs. Eddy's aim in founding The Church of Christ, Scientist, as follows: "To organize a church designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing." Man., p. 17; The same power of the Christ, man's divine sonship, evidenced through Jesus' works is being seen today in the renewal and reconstruction of individual lives.
In the work of rehabilitation we must begin where Jesus began, with God. Mrs. Eddy counsels us, "The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea, —perfect God and perfect man,—as the basis of thought and demonstration." Science and Health, p. 259;
The truth of man's spiritual perfection can be found only after one understands that God is the one infinite Spirit, who made all that exists. Starting by learning more of God, the individual will come step by step to understand himself better and his place in God's universe. He will better understand God through reading the Bible, and Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. Through a continuing study of these books he can understand that God couldn't cause His children to mull over past mistakes. God is a present help, and is able to renew us. This does not mean God remakes His creation following our prayer and growth in spiritual understanding. It means that through prayer and growth the individual begins to see God's already existing, lovely creation.
To solve a mental or physical problem that has not yet relinquished its hold on us, we can change and improve our thinking. It is a matter of letting our thought be reformed and renewed with the absolute spiritual truth that God has created man spiritual, good, and in perfect health. Turning to God as Spirit, we can refute the mortal belief of illness. We can see that He has made man in His likeness to live and act perfectly. Destitution, hopelessness, depression, and other negative beliefs, which are products of ignorance of this divine fact, are dissolved as we gain a more spiritual understanding of God. Mrs. Eddy writes: "Let us rid ourselves of the belief that man is separated from God, and obey only the divine Principle, Life and Love. Here is the great point of departure for all true spiritual growth." ibid., p. 91;
God is indeed complete, whole, and perfect; and man reflects wholeness, perfection, and right action. As we turn our thought from a mortal selfhood to man's true spiritual identity, God's restorative healing power can be felt operating on our behalf.
To rehabilitate our communities, churches, homes, or offices, we must start with God and His spiritual creation, never with people or matter. We must have a desire to gain a better understanding of God and His perfect relationship with His perfect, spiritual man. As our understanding of God grows, our love for Him increases. Our love for God becomes active through our prayers to Him. Renewal can be an hourly and daily happening. Through humble prayer, watching, and self-sacrifice we discard old beliefs, habits, and errors.
When we discharge and reject false material classifications of ourselves and others and accept the Christlike standard, we will be progressing from the untrue and unreal to the true and real. On a daily basis we can examine our prayers, motives, and desires and make certain they coincide with the Christ, Truth. When spiritual, truthful ideas become activated in our consciousness and expressed in deeds, the restorative Truth is working. For Truth to be evidenced, we must turn from the belief of mortal existence to acknowledge that man lives and moves in Spirit. Mrs. Eddy explains, "It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony." ibid., p. 390;
Self-rehabilitation is a continuous spiritual course of action. God does the work, but we must listen, relate to Him as His children, and become more obedient to His laws. Our desire to become better acquainted with Jesus' teachings prepares thought to be refreshed and renovated by true goodness, which has always been present but may not be fully apparent to physical sense. Faith and trust in God's presence and control will establish a strong and firm foundation to build on. Each moment is another opportunity to refute the false belief in a mortal man and to replace it with the right concept of the spiritual man. Each time we affirm the truth we add an additional supporting truth to our spiritual foundation, and this furthers our spiritual rehabilitation.
For encouragement we can look to the rehabilitated lives of Bible characters— such people as Jacob, Saul of Tarsus, and Mary Magdalene. Certainly the disciples changed their lives by being more obedient to Jesus' wise and inspired instruction: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31, 32.
Spiritual renewal begins with repentance —in the broadest sense, a change of one's thinking—to restore health and well-being. As we improve our understanding of God's power and presence, we can be sure that He supports our restorative work. This spiritual endeavor can never regress, because God's law and His goodness are always operative. Let us not put off until the future our starting and continuing the job of spiritual rehabilitation.
