The denial of the human body, or of anything that makes for a normal, healthy human experience, is not in accord with Christian Science practice. That which is needed at this stage of experience should fulfill its purpose. If it doesn't—because of accident, sickness, or sin—God's spiritual, healing law can be appealed to to correct the mental cause behind the difficulty and so heal it.
Even though the human body appears to be destructible, spiritual healing, in Christian Science, proves that there is a resuscitating, spiritual law that can be appealed to. This healing law of God can restore the body to a normal state of health so that it functions as it should.
In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes, "The patient sufferer tries to be satisfied when he sees his would-be healers busy, and his faith in their efforts is somewhat helpful to them and to himself; but in Science one must understand the resuscitating law of Life." Science and Health, p. 180.
We find this law in the spiritual understanding of God and the spiritual relationship we have with God, as His image. In Science, God is understood to be divine Mind, the source and condition of all true consciousness. The spiritual ideas of this Mind constitute all true selfhood. These ideas are embodied by reflection and give individual, true consciousness substance and individuality. When the spiritual qualities of divine Mind, such as love, integrity, and well-being, are admitted to be the only genuine substance of consciousness, the real meaning of body is understood. The true, spiritual body is individual, spiritual consciousness—the reflection of God's being—and not a physical form.
This spiritual understanding of being and its demonstration restore the human body to health and normality. St. Paul put it in these words: "To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.... Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." Rom. 8:6, 9.
Christian Science explains that the human body is affected by the kind of thoughts we identify ourselves with. The reason for this is that the so-called human mind believes that both good and evil, Spirit and the flesh, are real. But this negative, fleshly mind, whose spurious laws and false beliefs claim to control us, is canceled out and destroyed as we evoke God's law—the law of divine Mind.
Spiritually illumined thinking shows us that such illusions as good and evil, Spirit and the flesh, coexisting and forever at war, are unreal and untrue. It reveals that the real man is wholly spiritual, devoid of dualism and not subject either to mortal mind or to matter and its so-called laws. It reveals that we really don't have minds of our own separate from God, because the real man is subject only to divine Mind, as Mind's idea.
That matter is real, that it has intelligence and life, pain or pleasure, that it can dominate us through sin or diseased symptoms—all such errors are denied in Science.
Christian Science does not, however, teach obliteration of the body. It teaches that our sense of body is lifted up from material beliefs and limits through Christian regeneration. Truth restores our spiritual sense, and this restoration is made manifest as health. Whatever is necessary to the body's normal functions or, for that matter, to any other necessity for happy, fulfilling, and productive living, is legitimate and can be demonstrated. Christian Science treatment brings to light a much more abundant sense of fulfillment, health, and usefulness. It does not wave away as "nothing" that which is needed to make human experience joyful and constructive.
In the degree that the spiritual qualities of God are cherished, protected, and embodied, the human body flourishes in health and human experience is enriched. If we become absorbed with the material sense of body and of life, however, this materializes consciousness, and the spiritual elements that are fundamental to health and happiness are overlooked. Bad conditions, both moral and physical, can be induced by sensualism in any of its forms.
Science and Health tells us: "Look away from the body into Truth and Love, the Principle of all happiness, harmony, and immortality. Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts." Science and Health, p. 261.
So, the more effectively the harmful influences of mortal-mindedness and matter are removed from consciousness, the more spiritual regeneration corrects whatever needs to be corrected. This regeneration is done through prayer, enlightened by the truth of being, and through the obedience that partakes more of the nature of God, divine Love. When consciousness is spiritualized sufficiently, healing of all sorts is experienced. This healing influence applies not only to the functions of the body but also to the minutiae of daily living.
The Psalmist understood God's love and care for us manifested in human experience. He wrote, "Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction." Ps. 119:92.
The study and practice of Christian Science help us to deal successfully with discord, sin, and disease. Contrary to the common approach, they are not causes but effects. They objectify unreal, material states of thinking and living that are out of tune with God's law—the law of divine Mind. So, when material-mindedness is recognized and corrected with spiritual-mindedness, healing takes place. This spiritual change of thinking is fundamental to spiritual healing.
Even though disease might appear most vivid, it's actually a phase of mortal-mindedness objectified—superimposed upon the body—that needs to be healed. So, the difficulty never originates in the heart, lungs, digestive system, as such. They function as they should when wrong thinking—such as fear, sin, destructive reaction, or unkind feelings—is replaced with spiritual qualities of divine Love. Christian Science treatment does not focus on a person or on his body but focuses on correcting errors of belief.
As Mrs. Eddy tells us, "Sickness, sin, and death must at length quail before the divine rights of intelligence, and then the power of Mind over the entire functions and organs of the human system will be acknowledged." Science and Health, pp. 384–385.
Christian Science never condemns, or even denies, that which is necessary to a perfectly normal, healthy human experience. Indeed, it heals any sense of abnormality and brings into our experience that which expresses the highest sense of spiritual fulfillment, creativity, and the abundance of good. To the degree that the law of divine Mind is understood and adhered to, in that proportion, health and well-being are restored.
When Christ Jesus healed the man with the withered hand, he commanded the man, "Stretch forth thine hand." The Bible then records, "He stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other." Mark 3:5.
Christian Science explains that Jesus identified the individual in need of healing as being, in Truth, God's perfect offspring, in possession of all his spiritual faculties. The Master's healing prayer resolved the false, material sense of some sort of mental withering, deterioration, or devastation into a thing of thought and replaced it with its spiritual counter fact. Perhaps the loss of joy or true self-worth or fulfillment needed to be addressed so that the newness and freshness of God's being, forever in bloom in individual consciousness, were recognized in their place.
Note: the Master did not do away with this man's hand, nor did he deny the man's need of a healthy hand! His prayer restored the hand to health and usefulness.
Christian Science explains that Jesus' acknowledgment of the spiritual reality of being had a direct bearing on the belief of the withered hand. The spiritual ideas of God that he applied destroyed the erroneous belief in some sort of power opposed to God—and its seeming evidence. This is the Christ, which restored the hand to health and usefulness. Such healings do take place today in Christian Science, as Christian Scientists attest at Wednesday evening testimony meetings and in periodicals such as the one you are reading.
This deeply Christian and scientific teaching shows that health, symmetry, usefulness, coordination, and the like are spiritual qualities of God. They are dependent entirely upon Him for their existence and expression. The great facts of spiritual being reveal that the elements of divine Mind are not dependent upon and cannot be interfered with by any condition of mortal mind or matter for their manifestation, action, and purpose. Christian Science explains that this Christly understanding of being heals and is utilized in the healing works of Christian Science.
If we are in need of companionship, a home, or even a job, they need to be seen in a more spiritual light. They're not really things to get, but they point to immortal and eternal spiritual qualities within consciousness—qualities we can embody. Wholeness, completeness, fulfillment, acumen, and so forth are elements of the real man, and when such spiritual qualities are demonstrated, this action of truth brings what is needed into our experience. When the kingdom of heaven within is acknowledged and when we identify with it, in that measure we experience more of its spiritual affluence in our lives.
A dear friend of mine learned this lesson in Christian Science when she was over seventy years of age. She had loved Christian Science; she was a good woman. But her life was devoid of family, a home, and even security. She had thought that to love God was to deny the good in human existence—falsely believing that it was material. But when she began to see that God's love and care can be experienced now, she stopped denying that spiritual good is evidenced in ways that are needed. Her misconceived sense of prayer gave way to the acknowledgment of the presence of spiritual good, which can always be demonstrated, felt, and seen in human affairs. In fact, she eventually met and married a fine man, a widower, and together they had a truly happy and fulfilling life.
When consciousness is sufficiently imbued with Truth and Love, it is illumined with the spiritual realities of being. Then we become more sensitive, through a spiritually enlivened conscience, to obey God's law, which reveals the necessary spiritual ideas to further His kingdom on earth.
