For years I wondered about pain. What causes it? How to be free of it? And how could St. Paul possibly take pleasure in infirmities, reproaches, and persecutions? (See II Cor., Chap. 12.) How can there be anything good about pain?
Happily, from the study of Christian Science and from the light it throws on the Scriptures came satisfying answers to all these questions.
What causes pain? The illusion that man is a physical mortal, made up of intelligent matter, such as brain, blood, tissue, and so on. But God's man, the true selfhood of everyone, is made in God's image. He originates in and reflects Spirit. Hence, in absolute truth, man's real identity (or body) is totally spiritual and intact; his life, intelligence, and substance are neither in nor of matter and are not subject to discord.
