IT DAWNED ON ME A WHILE BACK how much of an oddsmaker the human mind tends to be! Constantly weighing the probabilities and whispering in our ear, it insists, "Come on, how likely do you think that is?" The question may come up in relation to anything from getting through a traffic jam to the expectation of a quick recovery from an illness.
Being drawn into the weighing of so-called odds—whether for ourselves or others—is obviously unproductive, but it also betrays something more. It indicates that we're forgetting, at least temporarily, what Christian Science is all about. Hear Mrs. Eddy's forceful words on this issue: "To attempt the calculation of His mighty ways, from the evidence before the material senses, is fatuous. It is like commencing with the minus sign, to learn the principle of positive mathematics" (Unity of Good, p. 10).
The reestablishment of Christian healing as practiced in Christian Science didn't come about by looking at the evidence of material conditions and calculating whether there was likelihood of healing by prayer. Instead, it was a new and very different way to think spiritually—a new consciousness—that had such powerful effect. Looking at Jesus' explanation of his own ministry, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge" (John 5:30), we can see the larger implication that a new consciousness isn't just human reasoning, but is given of God.
