What would be thought of a plumber who knew all the skills of his trade but did not practice them? Or what about a car mechanic who read and understood car manuals but never dismantled an engine or put it together again?
Perhaps he or she might be afraid to put that hard-won knowledge to the test. "What if it doesn't work?" might be the question. "What would I do then?" So the plumber, car mechanic, or Christian might continue indefinitely in a state of fruitless nonpractice. Such a one fulfills Paul's description of a person who is "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."II Tim. 3:7.
When Christ Jesus told his disciples to heal the sick, these men had not been instructed by him for a particularly long time. They weren't considered especially well educated, and they were probably quite young. Yet they healed. They practiced what they knew and, as best they could, brought their lives into line with the truths they were affirming. It was not their purpose merely to read and reread the Scriptures indefinitely, and thereby postpone the work of healing for some future date.
This is not to deny the necessity of study in Christian Science practice. But if close communion with God, and heartfelt prayer to Him, be lacking, our study is not given full rein to be as effective as it could be.
The ideal is to study thoroughly, to give specific metaphysical treatment to the best of our ability, and then continue to acknowledge the effectiveness of this treatment in everything we think, say, and do. Not that we should go around muttering absolute truths of God and man in the supermarket or factory. Yet, if we're sincere in the work, all that we do and say will be divinely influenced.
"It isn't how much you think you know," a good friend of mine once said. "It's what you do with what you know!" I knew this was right because I immediately recalled an exemplary case when Christian Science was fairly new to me.
I'd been studying it for about eighteen months, and, although I loved what I was learning, I certainly didn't feel that I could practice it on my own. My husband and I were spending a holiday with our small children at a cottage some distance from telephones or other means of communication. When one child started showing symptoms of what looked to us like jaundice, I saw my obligation to put the truths I'd been studying into practice.
Having carefully studied the Lesson-Sermon,In the Christian Science Quarterly. I resolved to stop asking matter what was true about my child and start asking God. I gave serious consideration to the seven synonyms for God in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy,See Science and Health, p. 465. prayerfully asking, "What is Life telling me about this child? What is Truth saying?" Then I listened for answers—not with my ears but with a humbled, yearning consciousness. And answers came. They were reassuring, uplifting, and I was able to continue with other activities for a short while, confident that God, divine Love, would heal my son.
Then suggestions of fear and unease would repeat themselves, and I'd have to go over the whole ground again. This continued all day. I fell asleep that night pondering the synonyms for God, and listening carefully for the answers to the questions I asked about my son. In the morning I woke to a perfectly healthy small child, who wanted to go swimming in the river as soon as possible.
We can actively practice Christian Science today, now. Why should anyone let animal magnetism talk him or her into postponing healing? Healing is possible now because Christian Science practice is possible now. Goodness is now. God is now. Postponement is part of the difficulty, and the moment we decide to practice now—and do it—part of the difficulty has been healed.
As we daily and deeply commune with the one Mind in specific metaphysical treatment, as we make sure that we're "doers of the word, and not hearers only,"James 1:22. we'll find that our bodies, our families, our country—indeed, our whole universe—will be blessed. There's no valid reason to wait for the good that can come as a result of Christian Science treatment now. "Truth is revealed," our Leader, Mrs. Eddy reminds us. "It needs only to be practised."Science and Health, p. 174.
