When on trial in Athens for challenging some of the entrenched beliefs and attitudes of his time, Socrates said in his defense: "If you put me to death, you will not easily find anyone to take my place. It is literally true, even if it sounds rather comical, that God has specially appointed me to this city, as though it were a large thoroughbred horse which because of its great size is inclined to be lazy and needs the stimulation of some stinging fly. It seems to me that God has attached me to this city to perform the office of such a fly, and all day long I never cease to settle here, there, and everywhere, rousing, persuading, reproving every one of you."
Today Christian Science similarly challenges mankind's entrenched false beliefs, its lethargic dreaming, which this Science calls mortal mind. Christ Jesus described this pseudo mentality graphically when he said of the devil: "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."John 8:44;
The Master overcame the lie and liar by by forcefully rejecting them and turning to the Father, divine Truth. On these occasions all sorts of wonderful things happened. People who thought they were sick or dying suddenly became well. Those who believed themselves deranged became sound in mind. In other words, Jesus woke his listeners up. Just before he raised Jairus's daughter from death, he said, "The maid is not dead, but sleepeth." Matt. 9:24; And he said the same thing of Lazarus before he went to him and raised him.See John 11:11-13; In both cases the people around Jesus failed to realize the significance of the word "sleepeth" as he used it. They took it literally, thinking he meant normal sleep instead of a delusive dream state.
