"I have an extremely painful back," the patient told the Christian Science practitioner. "The cause of it may be strain from too much gardening or a sense of burden from preparing for my daughter's wedding, which will be quite a large affair. Or it could be my son's ponytail!"
When the practitioner hung up the phone, she laughed at the picture that came to her thought. Multiple choice! A test consisting of a statement followed by a number of possible answers, where only one is supposed to be correct. How many times she had taken those tests in school. She remembered, too, the instructions always read "Circle one." To remove any element of chance, some tests also included the answer "None of the above."
The practitioner knew that Christian Science treatment, or prayer, in no way resembles a test in which one is hoping to guess the supposed "cause" of an illness. In fact, just the opposite. As Mrs. Eddy explains in Science and Health, "Spiritual causation is the one question to be considered, for more than all others spiritual causation relates to human progress." Science and Health, p. 170. Then, the scientific answer to the patient's interesting list of possible causes would have to be "None of the above"! For surely none of the supposed reasons offered even remotely suggested spiritual causation.
Christian Science teaches that Spirit, God, is the only cause; therefore, causation is forever spiritual. Spiritual man, the only true identity of each of us, is the outcome, the perfect expression, of that one divine cause. Man's true, spiritual individuality is, therefore, forever perfect effect. He is the spiritual, changeless, indestructible effect of the one perfect cause, which is God.
Prayer, or treatment, in Christian Science frequently takes the form of affirmation and denial. That is, it often involves the affirmation of the spiritual facts of being—the perfection of God and man—and the denial of whatever seems to be contrary to them. Affirmation and denial could be simply described as prayerfully declaring what is and what is not true of man. Specifically, affirming the spiritual facts of man's true identity as the perfect, pure, whole child of God. And denying what seems to be the evidence of the senses: disease, addiction, discord, unhappiness, and lack in any form.
At this point you may be wondering why the patient offered the practitioner such a variety of supposed "causes" if there is only one cause to be considered. Or, if you are somewhat familiar with the teaching of Christian Science, you might ask: "Doesn't Mrs. Eddy say over and over again that fear is the basic cause of all disease?" Yes. She does. Actually she says: "The procuring cause and foundation of all sickness is fear, ignorance, or sin." Ibid., p. 411.
This statement may seem to contradict the one quoted earlier, which says that "spiritual causation is the one question to be considered." It does not, however, when one understands the distinction Mrs. Eddy makes between the one spiritual cause, which is God, and mortal mind and its so-called causative beliefs.
Mortal mind, or the "carnal mind," as it is referred to in the Bible, is a counterfeit of the one Mind, which is God. Mortal mind is an illusionary state of consciousness. It is the belief that there is a mind apart from God, a mind in matter, that holds within itself the source and cause of all the misery in the world. But mortal mind itself is a false belief, and real cause can never be found there, because causation is wholly spiritual. That is why, if we are seeking spiritual healing, speculating about so-called material causation is always fruitless.
Humans constantly search in the wrong direction for cause, whether their problems appear to be physical or mental. Although Christian Science stresses the mental nature of disease of every kind, this does not mean it is similar in any way to material medicine's concept of mental causation, as in psychiatry or so-called psychosomatic disease. Psychiatry probes the human mind, seeking supposed mental causation. Christian Science lets the omniscience of divine Mind reveal both that which claims to be the cause and its spiritual answer.
As one prayerfully acknowledges that God is the only Mind of man and denies the existence of any other mind, frequently the spiritual truths needed to heal a specific case will quickly surface in thought. This is because God, the only actual Mind of man, is infinite, all-knowing, ever present, supplying the spiritual ideas necessary to meet any human need.
The resolution of the case under discussion shows this quite clearly. As the practitioner prayerfully affirmed spiritual causation as the only cause, she knew whatever claimed to be the causative belief would reveal itself. So when a familiar healing from the Bible came to her thought—the healing of the woman with the "spirit of infirmity" See Luke 13:11–13.—she felt she had her answer. What needed to be corrected was not a physical condition but a false belief—the belief that the patient was a mortal female rather than the perfect child of God. Luke's Gospel says that the woman who came to Christ Jesus for healing was "bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself." And Jesus healed her instantly.
When the ruler of the synagogue rebuked Jesus for healing on the Sabbath day, the Master's reply may be of greater significance then is generally realized. He said: "Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" Luke 13:15, 16.
Over the years it had often seemed as though this woman symbolized the lot of women down the centuries. Woman in bondage, bowed low under the burden of cultural and physical oppression. The practitioner realized the Biblical account of the suffering woman could only have come to her for one reason: she needed to affirm prayerfully the spiritual truths of true womanhood as revealed by Christian Science.
Christian Science teaches that the man of God's creating reflects the nature of God, who is our Father-Mother. Science and Health shows us that we must become more aware of this fact: "Let the 'male and female' of God's creating appear. Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy. Let us rejoice that we are subject to the divine 'powers that be.'" Science and Health, p. 249.
The practitioner concluded her prayer for the patient by rejoicing that only that which is forever true of "the 'male and female' of God's creating" could ever be manifested. She knew that the spiritual facts she had been affirming could always destroy any misconceptions of true womanhood that might appear to be causing pain or burden.
The patient called in the morning to report that she was healed. She expressed gratitude for her release from pain and discomfort. In turn, the practitioner shared some of the spiritual truths that had come to her. "Oh!" the woman exclaimed: "I forgot to tell you I also have my mother living with me, so I certainly was seeing myself as a burdened mortal female. As a daughter. A wife. And a mother!"
Have you sincerely been praying for a healing that seems delayed? Don't be discouraged. You may think you know the "cause" of your problem, but if you are looking to matter or material circumstances as causation, you are looking in the wrong direction. Evil has no cause or source. Causation belongs to Spirit, and "spiritual causation is the one question to be considered."
So if you are wrestling with some problem, here are some of the basic rules you'll find helpful. (1) Don't play detective with the human mind. (That's psychiatry.) (2) Don't play "circle one." (A stab in the dark is never the answer.) (3) Don't look to mortal mind for causation. (Mortal mind doesn't exist.)
Do consider "the one question" because only God will give you the answer that leads to healing. Don't forget that "more than all others spiritual causation relates to human progress." Who wants to resist that? When mortal mind gives us multiple choice, let's answer "None of the above"! God is the only cause, and He causes only good in His perfect effect, man.
