In my own experience, I've found many worthwhile reasons for studying Christian Science, the law of God. Especially significant has been the help received in waking up from the waking dream of life in matter.
The teachings of Christian Science stand on the eternal reality of life in and of God alone—in divine, infinite Spirit—as demonstrated by Christ Jesus. The Master taught that God is Spirit. Therefore Christian Science draws the logical conclusion that the offspring of God, Spirit—in other words, man—is entirely spiritual; he always has been and ever will be.
The Science of Christianity elaborates on man's true, spiritual nature. It helps us understand that belief in life in matter is an error, a mistake, ignorance of what God made and sees as real and present. This so-called existence has its being in the darkness and restrictions of mortal thought, in a supposed material consciousness apart from the one, infinite, divine Mind.
Mary Baker Eddy points out in Science and Health: "Mortal existence is a dream of pain and pleasure in matter, a dream of sin, sickness, and death; and it is like the dream we have in sleep, in which every one recognizes his condition to be wholly a state of mind. In both the waking and the sleeping dream, the dreamer thinks that his body is material and the suffering is in that body." Science and Health, p. 188.
"Even so," someone might counter, "material existence is very pleasant for me right now. Why would I want to wake up from it?" Let's consider some of the reasons, although it isn't easy to detail what waking up to life in Spirit does for us with so many blessings to select from.
There is the increased joy and vitality one experiences. Better health, increased harmony in day-to-day relationships, and a greater sense of God's constant provision are also benefits of waking up from the waking dream. And spiritual understanding equips us to deal more effectively with the pervasive sense of insecurity in the world these days—fear of crime, of losing one's job, of getting sick. In some cases, people are battling diminished hope, depression, an underlying feeling that "maybe I won't be able to bounce back this time."
But no person has to live with this. Since you and I and all individuals are actually God's offspring, His image and likeness, as the Bible reveals, we're continuously reflecting the Father's love. And we're inseparable from His care. Because this is the fact of our being, we're not helpless before material conditions.
Fear, lack, sorrow, and other forms of discord are erroneous beliefs, even though they seem very real to unenlightened thought. They stem from ignorance of man's inseparable relation to God, divine Love. And they are corrected by spiritually waking up to the truth of God and man.
Suffering is an illusion of the physical senses, a lie about God's perfect creation. It is somewhat like the bad dream one has at night—frightening, yet not real. And what comfort one feels when he wakes and sees that there is nothing to fear.
You and I don't have to settle down and live with fear of becoming a victim of this or that. The spiritual fact is that we each have God as our Mind, our uninvadable Life, our only controller. So-called mortal mind, with all its hypnotic suggestions, is a baldfaced liar. Jesus referred to evil as "a liar." And both liar and lie are substanceless, placeless; they're unknown, unheard, and unfeared by God or any of His children.
When we know the truth of God and of ourselves as His reflection, we understand the falsity of mortal beliefs and fears. And this understanding increases our dominion over them. Christian Mind-healing involves an awakening from a material and false sense of being to the spiritual and true sense.
With many men and women, it may appear that difficulties they are facing today go back to their childhood. Perhaps anxiety or lack of confidence seems to be rooted in things that happened to or around them when they were young. In such instances, waking up spiritually to one's real being in God is extremely helpful. It is, in fact, the only way to heal permanently the apparent effects of early events.
Realizing the fact that man has always been in the eternal Mind, God, can and does bring to the surface supposed hereditary limitations, peculiarities of temperament, and so forth that may have been operating out of sight for decades. And once the truth of man's unbroken relation to God as His immortal, never-born-into-matter offspring begins to dawn in thought, the error that has been causing a particular trouble is seen as godless, powerless to continue influencing one's present thought and behavior.
When this awakening to divine reality comes, there may at times be turmoil. It's no surprise that the carnal mind never wants to be discarded for the liberating knowledge Jesus imparted. But the carnal mind isn't power and it isn't a real mind, because God alone is Mind. The laws of God enable us to demonstrate this for ourselves. Certainly the results of spiritual awakening—the feeling of wholeness, the widened horizons, the increased freedom to be what God has made us to be—are worth whatever temporary upheaval we may experience.
The mortal dream of life as a material existence separated from God can't furnish the true estimate of our identity or anyone else's. All that material history tells us about harmful early experiences is without a vestige of reality in God's uninterrupted, benign government of His loved offspring. Not for a year, an hour, or even one moment have we been under the jurisdiction of anyone but our heavenly Father-Mother, Love. Our real, spiritual selfhood, yours and mine, has never been shaped or marred by material events and circumstances. What matters is not the particulars of our so-called formative years, but that we accept the fact that we were created by God, good, and have been perpetually upheld as His reflection. We are wise to reject mortal mind's dream of limitation and suffering as worthless and unreal.
In Psalms we find this petition to God: "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Ps. 119:18. The teachings of divine Science show us how to witness the fulfillment of this petition. Here is just one of the many clear explanations to be found in Science and Health: "For right reasoning there should be but one fact before the thought, namely, spiritual existence. In reality there is no other existence, since Life cannot be united to its unlikeness, mortality.
"Being is holiness, harmony, immortality. It is already proved that a knowledge of this, even in small degree, will uplift the physical and moral standard of mortals, will increase longevity, will purify and elevate character. Thus progress will finally destroy all error, and bring immortality to light." Science and Health, p. 492.
The night dream vanishes when we wake up from it—not by doing something to it. In a similar way, the waking dream of mortal existence begins to dissipate as we wake up spiritually through the exercise of spiritual understanding, not by trying to change or rearrange the illusion. So-called material life is mental and just as much an illusion as the night dream. The need is always for more spiritual enlightenment. As material beliefs are replaced by spiritual understanding, existence is perceived as God created it.
We have this specific command of our Master: "What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." Mark 13:37. It is clear that if we have been assigned to watch, we can't carry out this duty if we are asleep! How, then, can you and I really be alert and progressive if we are fast asleep in the mortal dream? Only through gaining more of the understanding Jesus had and illustrated for mankind's betterment can we experience life in God, Spirit, and the blessings this affords. This is one more reason why we should want to wake up spiritually. Science and Health points out, "Entirely separate from the belief and dream of material living, is the Life divine, revealing spiritual understanding and the consciousness of man's dominion over the whole earth." Science and Health, p. 14.
Waking up from the waking dream of life in the flesh to man's uninterrupted, entirely spiritual existence brings solid benefits. It has shown, and is showing, to many individuals more of the infinite good they have always had as God's child. It can do the same for you.
