One's attitude toward those who are to receive the ministrations of the healing practice of Christian Science or of the church largely determines the success of both practice and church. If the would be practitioner thinks of prospective patients as mortals with lesser understanding coming to be benefited by someone with a greater understanding, he or she can expect a limited practice with uncertain results. And if the members of a Church of Christ, Scientist, see their church's role in the community as that of a high place to which those in need are invited to come when they are ready to receive the higher ministrations, that church will attract few, if any, who have not already committed themselves to Christian Science.
If, on the other hand, the practitioner sees in man, wherever man appears to him, the wonderful idea that is the image and likeness of the divine Principle, Love—of God—he will find his days filled with opportunities to behold in individuals the wholeness, purity, beauty, grandeur, of the Christ-idea. And he will heal. Similarly, if the members of a Church of Christ, Scientist, see in their community the many actual expressions of God's qualities and cherish them, encourage them, love them, recognize them as God's own, and look up to them, that church will find coming through its doors those who are beginning to recognize in themselves the cherished, loved qualities and want to know something of the Science that reveals their source.
The Bible gives the rule in simple but demanding terms. It tells us, "For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" John 4:20; Christ Jesus' whole life was a demonstration of love—and not for himself as one enjoying his superiority over others. He said, "I am among you as he that serveth."Luke 22:27;
The importance of this upward-rather than downward-looking attitude becomes clear when we study the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. This book explains the Science Jesus lived and thought, and in it is a chapter entitled "Christian Science Practice."
Many times I have asked myself, If I were to write a book, or part of one, explaining the method of healing in Christian Science, where would I begin? What one thing would I feel someone needs to know before he can take his first steps toward becoming a scientific Christian healer? The answers that have come are many: the allness and goodness of God, the love of God for man, the nothingness of evil, the nonexistence of matter, the mental nature of all things. Good answers, but not the one Mrs. Eddy gave.
She begins this chapter with a discussion of an account in Luke's Gospel— about the feast where a lowly woman, later called Mary Magdalene, came and bathed Jesus' feet with oil and her tears and wiped them with her hair. At first reading, it seems Mrs. Eddy is telling us to forgive as Jesus forgave this woman; but looking further, we find her telling us three times that if we are to heal effectively and efficiently, we must be like the woman. She writes, for example, "If the Scientist has enough Christly affection to win his own pardon, and such commendation as the Magdalen gained from Jesus, then he is Christian enough to practise scientifically and deal with his patients compassionately; and the result will correspond with the spiritual intent." Science and Health, p. 365;
This was the attitude of Jesus—looking up to the Christ in all he did. And the Christ is the true idea, the image and likeness of God, becoming visible in every individual who is honestly seeking to express in his life something of good, of the truth of being. Wherever the qualities of God are to some degree evident in consciousness, there the Christ-idea can be seen. And the very fact of someone coming to Christian Science for help indicates the presence of the Christ-idea in that individual. If we really see it, what a magnificent, awe-inspiring, humbling sight it is!
Early in my practice of Christian Science I met an experienced practitioner who exuded the joy of beholding in man the Christ-idea. She saw it as essential to her work in each case that she repent of the false picture of sickness, sin, or mortality that presented itself—cast out as unreal that false belief and, as it were, bathe the feet of the true idea that was the real man.
Christ Jesus gave this message to his disciples, washing their feet and saying: "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet." John 13:14;
Is this the keynote of our work as a church body? Do we see in our community the qualities of God individuals are expressing in their work, in their homes, in service to causes that are for the good of all? Do we see these qualities as the presence of God's true idea, the Christ, and humbly seek to honor that spiritual idea and to show that we do?
What we are speaking of here is not gimmickry or public relations techniques. It is genuine practice of the Science of Christ, Truth, beginning where that practice must begin.
In the textbook, Mrs. Eddy begins the definition of "Church": "The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle." Science and Health, p. 583. Where, then, is Church? Is it only within the confines of an edifice or limited to the consciousness of its members? Or is it wherever divine Principle is being expressed? Is our church local or universal? When we do church work, for what are we doing it? For whom? Do we actively consider the very being of our Church as "whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle"?
The answer is found in the conclusion of the definition: "The Church is that institution, which affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race, rousing the dormant understanding from material beliefs to the apprehension of spiritual ideas and the demonstration of divine Science, thereby casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick."
What is the function of the practitioner in this universal concept of the church? If he is recognizing the Christ-idea wherever it is appearing in the thoughts, motives, and actions of people, and if he is repenting daily, hourly, of whatever beliefs claim to be his— thoughts depicting man as less than God's perfect image—his mental, metaphysical work will be felt in human consciousness, "elevating the race," drawing to Truth those who are becoming dissatisfied with a mortal or material sense of life. Part of this effect will appear as his own practice, but the universal nature of his upward-looking consciousness will necessarily generate opportunities for the church throughout the world to prove its utility.
As Christian Scientists we learn to be fishers of men. But to do so we need to cast our nets where the fish are and draw them in. This is the opposite of expecting the church to drive or attract the fish into our nets.
The problem is simply one of attitude toward the men, women, and children to be fished. Once we see that the Christ, the true idea of God, is present where the qualities of God are, and we find our "Magdalen" roles, the church will grow.
The woman who came to Jesus at the feast had a problem: how to show her own repentance of her false view of man, to convey clearly her adoration of the Christ-idea. She solved her problem with bold action, using the means available to her to express her recognition of the Christ-idea. Are we ready to take bold action to show our recognition in man of the wonderful spiritual idea of Life, Truth, Love—the divine Principle of all—wherever this idea is appearing in human thought and action? Will we boldly use the means available to us to do this? Then we can expect the results to "correspond with the spiritual intent" of our work.
Perhaps we can sum it all up by asking, Do we pray that others will wake to what we are, or do we work metaphysically to wake ourselves to recognize what others are? Our practice of Christian Science and our actions as a church afford limitless opportunities to awake to the Christ-idea in men, women, and children here and elsewhere. If we use these opportunities, both practice and church will reveal their usefulness. The world will receive the blessing of the truth that Christian Science is.
