When attending a Wednesday evening testimony meeting in a Christian Science church, you may have heard a testifier state that he "handled" a certain illness and, in doing so, was healed. Did you go home wishing you understood more clearly his meaning when he said he "handled" it?
One meaning of the word handle is to deal with, and when Christian Scientists say they "handle" evil or disease, they are talking about dealing with it prayerfully, metaphysically. They have found that the most effective way to be healed is through the power of God's spiritual law, which negates disease and restores bodily harmony.
The Bible gives a vivid example of what it means to handle evil through demonstration of God's spiritual power. Moses was told by God to lead the children of Israel out of the Egyptian bondage. Moses felt incapable of this enormous task, so God showed Moses a sign of His power by telling Moses to throw his shepherd's rod to the ground. When the rod appeared to become a serpent, Moses, in fear, started to flee. But God encouraged Moses to return and pick up the serpent by the tail —to handle it. When Moses overcame his fear and obeyed God's command, the serpent became a rod again and its nothingness was realized. The serpent was a deception of thought, and the only place the serpent seemed real was in Moses' perception of it. By Moses' handling the serpent, fear was replaced with confidence in the omnipotence of God's power, and this and other proofs of God's power enabled Moses to fulfill his God directed mission.
