In contrast with Christian Science we might classify as "mental suggestion" that subversive technique of a so-called material mentality which seeks willful control over bodily conditions, material circumstances, or events. It may take the form of autosuggestion or a silent attempt to influence other human minds—either for good or for evil purposes. How far such quackery is from the true practice of Christian healing!
The aim of Christian Science is to save humanity from sin, sickness, and destructive lies of all sorts. In fact such salvation would include overturning the very foundation of any merely mental technique by eliminating the false supposition that mind and life are material. The method of the saving mission of Christian Science is fundamentally prayer and demonstration. And prayer in Christian Science is the deeply Christian prayer that brings redemption through the action of Christ, Truth; the healing prayer that scientifically affirms and understands divine law. Embracing the law of God as supreme, such enlightened prayer acknowledges the eternal fact that there is no other Mind than the divine Mind, God; no other governing power than omnipotent Love; no other substance than infinite Spirit; no other being than divine Life and its expression. Man's real identity and consciousness reflect the one infinite Mind; and the understanding of this divine Mind, entertained in prayer, bestows the only power that can truly heal.
Mental suggestion, on the other hand, is actually a form of blindness, for it proceeds from the basis of wrongly believing in a power separate from God, the only true intelligence. Such suggestion operates either from a standpoint of ignorance or malice, or both. And consequently it never rises above its own self-imposed shortcomings and the darkness of false belief. A mortal mentality cannot perceive what is divinely real. It cannot know God's true creation, where man is never a conglomerate of physique, emotion, and preprogrammed genetic traits but is instead the pure spiritual likeness of his Maker.
In the textbook, Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy points to the kind of prayer that is essential to the correct practice of Christian Science when she writes of the manner in which the Saviour, Christ Jesus, prayed. In the chapter entitled "Prayer," Mrs. Eddy sharply contrasts Jesus' holy method with blind belief. She states, "It is neither Science nor Truth which acts through blind belief, nor is it the human understanding of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and conscientious protests of Truth,—of man's likeness to God and of man's unity with Truth and Love." Science and Health, p. 12.
Although the Science of Christ is in no way a form of mental suggestion, still there is a proper mental aspect to Christian Science practice. For Science is demonstrably revealing the power of Christ, Truth, to redeem and heal, and it is revealing this power to human consciousness. Obviously, human consciousness is where prayer takes place. And as one's thought expresses humility, as one's motives are unselfish, and as one is sincerely seeking to know God's will, human consciousness can become a sanctuary for inspired communion with God.
Through the quieting influence of scientific prayer—through "deep and conscientious protests of Truth"—the material sense of existence is silenced to a degree in human consciousness, and the spiritual sense of reality is brought to light. The Christ transforms thought; healing occurs.
And because prayer is an activity that goes on in the secret place of one's own thinking, everyone has the same opportunity for individual access to the Father and to hear His Word. Again from the chapter "Prayer" in Science and Health we learn, "In divine Science, where prayers are mental, all may avail themselves of God as 'a very present help in trouble.'" Ibid., pp. 12-13.
The requirements for Christian discipleship that Jesus presented to his immediate followers are the same that are to be accepted by Christian Scientists today. Jesus' call to his disciples was a call to demonstrate divine Truth—to love unselfishly, to heal the sick, to comfort, to uplift, to preach the gospel. Christly action was the demand, not willful manipulation, not dreamy optimism, not pie-in-the-sky platitudes or abstract theorizing. When the Master taught a lesson on love in his parable of the good Samaritan, he concluded with the words "Go, and do thou likewise." Luke 10:37. Christian Science confirms the necessity in Christian practice to do likewise—to prove what we have learned and what we claim to be true.
Stilling the storm, giving sight to the blind, raising the dead, were not the result of some mental trick, some word game, or merely holding a good thought. The marvelous acts that Jesus performed bore witness to the supremacy of spiritual power in human experience. Those who are striving to emulate the Master, even as Christian Science teaches, are realists who see the profound implications in consistently demonstrating Truth. They see this demonstration as absolutely essential to working out their own salvation and to imparting the blessings of God's grace and healing to mankind.
For more than a century Christian Science has stood on its proof of the transforming power of divine Truth in individual lives. And as our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, states: "If Christian Science lacked the proof of its goodness and utility, it would destroy itself; for it rests alone on demonstration. Its genius is right thinking and right acting, physical and moral harmony; and the secret of its success lies in supplying the universal need of better health and better men." Miscellaneous Writings, p. 365.
