DURING MY FINAL YEAR AT UNIVERSITY, a brief discussion with my academic tutor made a deep impression on me. And what a blessing this was! I had presented an essay that was very minimal and lacking in inspiration, and my tutor, a gentle but discerning man, quietly spoke a few words, indicating that work of this calibre would not get me through my final examinations. His gentle reprimand effectively reached my receptive thought—and these few words changed my whole attitude. Henceforth, I threw myself into my studies and ultimately achieved all the necessary qualifications I needed for my career in teaching.
Unlike the salutary effect my professor's words had on me, the words spoken to us can also produce impressions that might have a very deleterious effect upon our lives. I'm thinking of when someone is faced with a disturbing medical diagnosis or when a television viewer has been exposed to a detailed description of a disease, and the individual begins to manifest some of these very same symptoms.
Whatever the impressions we experience, they first come to thought. They can create joy or peace of mind, or stress or fear or even hatred. In turn, these emotions can manifest themselves in us physically, either for better or for worse. Mary Baker Eddy knew very well the influence that our thinking has on our bodies, and in her book Science and Health she advised, "Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously" (p. 392). Christian Science teaches that sickness originates in the conscious or unconscious thoughts of the individual. Therefore, when an individual accepts the impressions of the physical senses as facts, and then experiences these impressions physically, the remedy is to spiritualize thought.
