Physical healing in Christian Science should be the most natural thing in the world because this Science proves that man's real and only state of being is one of health and wholeness. When we are confronted with disease or any discordant situation and are praying for healing, we have at our disposal God's unchangeable laws for help. His law of health and harmony is ever operative. It is the spiritual law of divine Love, which embraces the whole of creation, including man. God has created man in His likeness and maintains him always at the standpoint of present perfection.
In her book No and Yes Mrs. Eddy says, "God's law is in three words, 'I am All;' and this perfect law is ever present to rebuke any claim of another law." No and Yes, p. 30. As we feel the magnitude of this beautifully simple fact, we will have no difficulty in applying it in practical demonstration. In the all-embracing infinity of God's love for man, any validity of material sense testimony is precluded. It has to be. If all is God, good, and His manifestation, then man, God's offspring, can express only good. Within the understanding of this absolute goodness the reestablishment of our sense of health is natural and simple.
Truths such as these are not hearsay. Mrs. Eddy was a deep student of the Bible and spent many years pondering Jesus' healing practice. This research was indispensable to her discovery of Christian Science, and the truths of the Bible remain the foundation of its teachings. Christ Jesus, our Way-shower, demonstrated what the Christ is capable of. He met disease and sin fearlessly as their master; he cleansed the lepers and raised the dead. Mrs. Eddy says of his practice: "Jesus never asked if disease were acute or chronic, and he never recommended attention to laws of health, never gave drugs, never prayed to know if God were willing that a man should live. He understood man, whose Life is God, to be immortal, and knew that man has not two lives, one to be destroyed and the other to be made indestructible." Science and Health, p. 369.To the degree that we embody the Christ-principle and follow Jesus' example, our demonstration will emulate his, bringing instantaneous cure.
In Corinthians we read Paul's admonition, "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." II Cor. 11:3. Healing would appear to become difficult in the realm of thinking that is darkened by fear and doubt. Fear is one of the corrupting elements of the serpent. It stems from ignorance of man's real identity.
The false belief that man is a helpless mortal, struggling against conditions beyond his control and subject to a material sense of existence, produces an anxious mental state that often causes and certainly perpetuates inharmonious conditions. "The refutation of the testimony of material sense is not a difficult task in view of the conceded falsity of this testimony," writes Mrs. Eddy. "The refutation becomes arduous, not because the testimony of sin or disease is true, but solely on account of the tenacity of belief in its truth, due to the force of education and the overwhelming weight of opinions on the wrong side,—all teaching that the body suffers, as if matter could have sensation." Science and Health, p. 396.
To rid ourselves of the false beliefs of material sense testimony, the process of reversal is applied. If false belief and its miserable partner, fear, cause sin, sickness, and death, then surely spiritual understanding restores harmony.
Man's true identity, as seen through the light of Christian Science, is wholly spiritual. He is the idea of Mind, the reflection of Love, and is controlled by the higher laws of God. Looking further, we see that God expresses Himself through each of us in a unique, individual way. For man to be at the beck and call of material law is really an impossibility.
When our baby daughter was born, we were told by the doctor that she would be unable to speak properly and that when she was three she would have to have speech therapy. And her basic first words, it turned out, were below the normal level of clarity. The medical diagnosis seemed to be correct.
I reached out to God in prayer for healing, and the answer came in one simple, beautiful statement — "The Word." I remembered, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1. The Word in actual fact already is, I thought; it does not need to be learned or communicated from one to another with a possible loss of clearness. It already is. In her consciousness, mine, everyone's. The Word is God's self-revealing activity, expressed in His flawless child. This child.
These ideas flowed naturally into consciousness, bringing inspiration; fear was completely eliminated. The child's speech soon became normal. She now speaks as clearly as any child her age. The doctor has confirmed that speech therapy is unnecessary.
As fearful thoughts were cleared out, the healing followed. God's law of harmony silenced the so-called law of matter, even though, in this case, it was announced by a highly qualified doctor. Medical diagnosis, supported by public opinion, is still only educated belief, and we can rejoice that it falls automatically before the perfect law of God: "I am All."
Of course, the specific truth that comes to meet a specific need will be different in each case, but it can always be there. In the experience with the child, I well remember my confidence that the answer had been revealed and that there was no need to look further.
As we reach out to God and respond with open hearts to His directive, healing follows naturally, as the simplest thing in the world.
