When commanded by God to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, Moses doubted his ability to convince the people of his God-given authority. A remarkable demonstration of the illusory nature of disease gave him the needed confidence.See Ex. 4:6-8; Shedding light on this incident, Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health, "It was scientifically demonstrated that leprosy was a creation of mortal mind and not a condition of matter, when Moses first put his hand into his bosom and drew it forth white as snow with the dread disease, and presently restored his hand to its natural condition by the same simple process."Science and Health, p. 321;
So convinced is mankind of the reality of disease, and consequently fearful of it, that any intimation of its illusive nature may seem startling. Yet Christian Science, through the power of divine Mind, destroys disease on the very basis of its unreality, just as Christ Jesus did.
Basic to Christian Science is the proposition that not only disease, but matter itself, is without actual substance. In this powerful statement Mrs. Eddy explains why: "Spirit is infinite; therefore Spirit is all. 'There is no matter' is not only the axiom of true Christian Science, but it is the only basis upon which this Science can be demonstrated."The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 357;
Christian Science treatment doesn't primarily involve getting rid of a matter condition. Matter is simply mortal thought objectified. Nor are we changing some ugly material picture for a pleasing one.
The change that results in healing is the removal of something mental, maybe a hardened attitude, a frightening thought-picture outlined on the body, some disagreeable character trait. What first exposes these negative states of thought as lies, then eliminates them, and finally occupies their place is the truth declared in the first chapter of Genesis: the universe and man expressive of good—as free from disease and sin as the perfect God who created them.
Jesus was the greatest healer of all time because he emphatically knew man to be spiritual. The only recorded instance of Jesus' performing a less than instantaneous healing is found in Mark. Jesus partially restores a blind man's vision, and the patient announces, "I see men as trees, walking." Then the Master completed the healing. The man looked "up"—or, as modern scholars understand the word, he looked "intently." Perhaps he needed to turn actively to the truth, to look beyond the limited desire for material vision and instead spiritually discern man's perfection, for the Gospel goes on to say, "He was restored, and saw every man clearly."Mark 8:24, 25;
If we apply the truths of the Bible or our Leader's writings with physical improvement as our only objective, relief may result but not cure, and the disease or the trouble may return. Only when we have seen that the difficulty never had any actual existence is the healing complete and any avenue of recurrence sealed off.
In Unity of Good Mrs. Eddy writes, "To say there is a false claim, called sickness, is to admit all there is of sickness; for it is nothing but a false claim. To be healed, one must lose sight of a false claim." How does one lose sight of anything? Only by banishing it from consciousness. She goes on: "If the claim be present to the thought, then disease becomes as tangible as any reality. To regard sickness as a false claim, is to abate the fear of it; but this does not destroy the so-called fact of the claim. In order to be whole, we must be insensible to every claim of error."Un., p. 54; A claim involves an assertion of some right or fact. How does one become insensible to a lying assertion? By being so certain of the truth that one cannot be deceived or touched by any error contradicting it.
The writer was moved to ponder these truths by the return of a very painful condition overcome seven years before. He realizes now that instead of thoroughly blotting the event from consciousness, he had allowed a vivid impression of it to linger. The resurfacing of the problem forced him to see that it had never in reality happened, never had existence or identity, and that it had never been part of him. It was like a child's bad dream from which he has permanently awakened.
The writer of Ecclesiastes gives this sound advice: "That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past."Eccl. 3:15. Since God knows no evil or disease, we're not required to file a record of it. The demand of ever-present Life is to wipe the past clean of its unreal elements—disease among them. Now are we God's children. He's the only true Life we've ever had. All the future really holds is the good of that Life we've yet to learn.
