Illnesses healed. Safety in the face of disaster. Financial troubles turned arround. Relationships restored. Read the pages of this magazine and it may seem like there's an equation in Christian Science that looks something like this: Problem + prayer = solution.
Yes, healing is the natural outcome of sincere prayer. But examine any one of these accounts of healing and an interesting picture emerges. It's this: Healing in Christian Science is not about outcome. Healing is about improved understanding and a shift in perspective. The individual healed develops a greater willingness to trust God and to rely less on material ways and means. In other words, Christian Science is not a Band-Aid for matter. In fact, it's not about healing matter at all. It couldn't be, since matter is, at best, illusory. But Christian Science is practical in that it opens our eyes to what already is—the reality of a perfect God and His perfect, spiritual creation.
Mary Baker Eddy explained that there is no substance or reality in matter. So matter, being insubstantial and unreal, cannot be treated. She stated this boldly when she wrote, "My first plank in the platform of Christian Science is as follows:" and then went on to remind the reader of "the scientific statement of being," found in Science and Health, which systematically lays out the allness of God, Spirit, and thus the spiritual, not material, nature of His creation. Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, p. 21. See also Science and Health, p. 468.
