I've noticed that in some Journal articles, a Christian Science practitioner will say that it is the responsibility of the practitioner to do the healing—that they shouldn't ask the patient to help or pray also. But other articles suggest that the patient cannot be a passive partner and needs to be praying along with the practitioner. Can you comment on these two different approaches and on the responsibilities of the patient and the practitioner?
A1 I believe that the two approaches are valid, but each has its distinct place. The same practitioner may well use both on different occasions. It can depend on a patient's background and perhaps the urgency of the case. The practitioner's spiritual discernment will show how to awaken the patient's thought—whether to trust the Christ to speak directly to human consciousness, guiding the praying of the patient, or to alert them to some specific spiritual truth.
My examples are Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy, who each used both methods. Consider how Jesus at times rebuked the error claiming to identify itself as the patient and then required something of the patient, mentally and physically, to complete the healing. At the same time, it's interesting to note that Mrs.Eddy would sometimes heal the people she passed on her daily carriage ride without even speaking with them. Her outpouring of spiritual love was so pure and unconditional that it enveloped everyone she saw, without demanding anything of them.
