Christians generally recognize that God is incorporeal, that He is Spirit, as Christ Jesus taught. And Christian Science shows that man, as the outcome of God—as His expression—must therefore be spiritual, incorporeal. The true nature of man as the expression of God is substantiated in the Bible from Genesis through the New Testament. In Genesis it is recorded that "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him." Gen. 1:27. The book of Job says, "The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." Job 33:4. And Paul declared, "In him [God] we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his off-spring." Acts 17:28.
These authoritative and immensely comforting statements show us our true identity. They take us out of the quagmire of limited or confused thinking about ourselves and place us upon the mountaintop where we catch glimpses of our inherent health, goodness, and purpose, springing directly from God, our Father.
The basis for healing in Christian Science is the present perfection of God and His offspring, man—an understanding that because harmony is our true status as God's expression, it must be manifested in our lives. As thought is spiritualized, purified, we grasp more clearly our immortal identity. We are not deceived by false concepts that parade as our identity, including such labels as accident-prone, unhealthy, sinful, unable to cope.
If man is immortal like his creator, what then is the body that we see? Christian Science helps us understand that the body is basically an objectification of thought. We might say that the body is a concept that appears materially tangible. It is not truly an autonomous entity determining the experience of an individual. Rather, body is molded by the concepts the individual is accepting in consciousness. Restoring harmony to bodily functions, for example, results from allowing the scientific laws of God's government to operate unrestrictedly in thought, thereby sapping the claim of matter to govern bodily action.
God is defined in Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy as "the great I AM; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence." Science and Health, p. 587. As we come to understand God's infinite power and tenderness, and man's actual, incorporeal nature as His likeness, we are no longer tempted to believe we must doctor the body in order to see it manifest normal conditions of health.
Our Way-shower, Christ Jesus, healed the body, restoring it to harmony and usefulness. His method was to address thought, transforming through divine power the individual's concept of himself and others. The transformation, or spiritualization, of thought is fundamental to Christian Science practice. Conscientious, consistent alignment of thought with God's law and the reflection of His qualities in our daily living are effective ways to spiritualize our thinking. This practice blesses every aspect of our lives and helps to confer bodily harmony.
Through such purification of thought we see more clearly God's absolute supremacy, His omnipresence and goodness. We see more clearly what needs to be given up (stubborn opinions, human willpower, fear, resentment, and so forth) and what needs to be claimed as the genuine qualities of our being (health, harmony, dominion, purity, love). We exchange debilitating, restricted concepts of God and man for wonderful glimpses of the light and perfection of God's universe and our eternal place in it. The body inevitably reflects this higher view of our creator and of ourselves.
Turning away from outworn views of ourselves and our potential may require a radical change of thought. In my case it was the key to healing. Over ten years ago, extreme fatigue and dizziness forced me to give up working. I found myself flat on my back in bed, unable to go about my daily round. I saw the need for a change of viewpoint concerning everything I thought and did. With the help of a Christian Science practitioner, I reevaluated all my activities in the light of God as the source and preserver of my identity. I saw that truly putting God first in all that I did could only bring harmony and fulfillment into my experience. It was a joy to correct fearful and willful thinking.
Turning away from outworn views
of ourselves and our potential may
require a radical change of thought.
In my case it was the key to healing.
For many days I prayed and studied to gain clearer views of God as Life, Mind, and All. My personal needs were met through the help of friends, but my medicine was Mind, and I didn't hesitate to take it in big doses! I saw that the body is governed rightly through divine law, and that the spiritualizing of our affections and aims in obedience to God's law invariably results in health.
I gained strength and confidence, and was able to stand and walk without difficulty. I understood to a greater degree that all power belongs to God and that man reflects His power and perfection. I resumed work and could run and climb as before. I was fully restored to health.
With God caring for us, what can we lack? Neither strength, health, nor fulfillment. Our clearer understanding of God and man, and our improved practice of Christian living, bring us into conformity with God's eternal plan for us and reveal our untrammeled identity, which can only be glorious. The opposite view—that man is material and headed for disaster—is silenced. We become willing to accept what Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health: "Man is spiritual and perfect; and because he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so understood in Christian Science." Ibid., p. 475.
Jesus understood better than all others man's immortal oneness with the Father. His every act was an affirmation of God's power and grace. In a profound sense, he saw and heard only what came from his Father. He was, we could say, on continuous speaking terms with God.
We understand as we practice. In the experience just related, I needed to claim my true identity. I needed to see that my health and activity come from God and are maintained and governed by Him. No longer did I fear that some part of the body could malfunction or be weakened. I rose up, stronger than before, and surer of my identity as the expression of God.
Do we need more strength? Better sight or hearing? These capacities will improve as we cherish our present, spiritual perfection. The body necessarily responds to enlightened, spiritualized thought.
