Anthony A. Bliss, executive director of the Metropolitan Opera Association, has spent countless evenings enjoying opera productions. He once observed: "No two seasons, not even any two performances, are ever alike. The Met . . . changes because she is the creation of artists and, by nature, they are individuals who cannot remain the same." Anthony A. Bliss in "Foreword" to Francis Robinson, Celebration: The .Metropolitan Opera (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1979), p. 9.
Those who observe Christian Science healing over a long span notice that no two healings—not even any two periods of thoughtful prayer that may contribute to a single healing—are ever quite alike. While in Science the true individuality of man created in the likeness of unchanging Spirit is eternally perfect, still, in the art of practicing Science, each practitioner constantly progresses as he or she strives to better express ideal individuality.
Just as every opera performance artistically interprets set music, so every healing application of Christian Science demonstrates the constancy and consistency of fixed Principle with the freshness and feeling of art. Though individual healing efforts are scientific, they are also artistically interpretative and innovative. The artistry of practice forbids formulas, and the Science of healing precludes random vagary. Therefore every Christian Science treatment has identity—form, not formula—that is both individual and infinite. Each treatment unites in mission with all spiritual healing, yet retains its distinct purpose.
