Last spring while I was reading the weekly Bible Lesson on the subject "Love" from the Christian Science Quarterly, I was impelled by an inner voice that asserted, "Stop reading! Do protective work for your husband!" Following that directive came another: "Don't bother to stop! What you're already doing is sufficient." Recognizing the latter as the devil, cunningly disguised in believable words and tone, to tempt me to disregard what I felt was true leading, I obeyed the first voice and remained quiet for a few minutes in peaceful communion with the all-knowing Mind. This conscious awareness of God's presence would prepare me for healing truths I knew would come to uplift my anxious thought.
As I continued to pray I recalled that God maintains each idea of His creating, as Mrs. Eddy tells us (Science and Health, p. 70), "The divine Mind maintains all identities, from a blade of grass to a star, as distinct and eternal." Thus, I became fully aware of the importance of my husband's true identity as a perfect idea of God. The work he is engaged in blesses many people; and I knew, therefore, that the unselfish motivation of his work was to glorify God.
Another conviction I had was so simple I had to laugh—for it wasn't enough to read the lesson each day, or even to study and ponder the truths revealed from the study, if I wasn't going to do anything with it. "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give" (Matt. 10:8). This was the admonition of Christ Jesus to his students when he gave them "power against unclean spirits" (Matt. 10:1). Faithful reading of the lesson, Sunday and Wednesday church attendance, serving on church committees, and so forth, were not enough. The genuine Christian Scientist is blessed when he utilizes the truths revealed to him through the healing avenues of Church established by our Leader, Mrs. Eddy. Utilization of the truth promotes individual spiritual growth and gives the student of Christian Science dominion over the temptations of the devil, mortal mind.
