THERE ARE MANY WORTHY CAUSES to which people commit their lives. There's the cause of peace, the end of global poverty, the betterment of human life, the uplifting of women worldwide, the protection of animals and the environment—to mention just a few.
Then why is commitment to the Cause of Christian Science not merely another in a long line of commitments to even the best, most beneficial of human causes?
Because Christian Science has come in fulfillment of Biblical prophecy—specifically Christ Jesus' prophecy of the coming of another Comforter, which he identified as the Holy Ghost, and which would be with us always. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy defined the Holy Ghost as, "Divine Science; the development of eternal Life, Truth, and Love" (p. 588). The Holy Ghost—this Science, this law of God, the divine energy of infinite Love that governs all creation—literally demonstrates and maintains the perfect harmony of God and His universe.
Jesus himself came in fulfillment of Biblical prophecy—Isaiah's prophecy that a virgin would conceive and bear a son (see Isa. 7:14). Fully aware of his divine origin, Jesus said: "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father" (John 16:28). But he also knew, taught, and proved that this spiritual identity was the fact of every individual's true nature. When he prophesied the coming of the Comforter, he was indicating the continuation of his mission and its application to everyone. Mrs. Eddy described the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy when she wrote: "In the words of St. John: 'He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.' This Comforter I understand to be Divine Science" (Science and Health, p. 55).
The Cause of Christian Science is actually a dynamic spiritual movement, originating in, founded on, and perpetuated by the divine Principle of the universe.
It is a Cause dedicated to the continuing revelation and demonstration of the truth of spiritual existence, and this lifts it above all other causes, as important as they are, to being the most important Cause on the face of the earth.
When I was a young boy I often lamented the fact that I hadn't been born earlier so that I might possibly have known Mrs. Eddy and been part of the Cause of Christian Science in its early days. As I matured into young manhood, I began to learn something of the magnitude, the dynamism, of that great spiritual movement called the Christian Science movement, and of the unbounded promise of healing, regeneration, and protection it offered the world. I began to see something of the link between the Science of Christianity that Mrs. Eddy discovered and the life and teachings of Jesus, which her discovery explained and proved. When I saw this link, I no longer lamented. I had come to see the timeless, universal, and impersonal nature of the wedding of the Christ, Truth, which Jesus so fully lived, and the Holy Ghost, Divine Science, the redeeming law of Love. In that wedding of the Christ and Holy Ghost, I found a love of Christianity that would never allow anything to separate me from Jesus or his teaching. And I found a love of divine Science that would never allow anything to separate me from Mary Baker Eddy or her discovery. From this came a commitment to learn more of this Science and the great and holy Cause that expounds it today.
Shortly after I entered the public practice of Christian Science, I was faced with a severe disabling condition. One day, I was sitting in a chair, unable to move, firmly confronting the aggressiveness of animal magnetism—the belief in a power or presence opposed to the allness of God, infinite good. I remember saying with a total commitment and deep love for God: "OK, animal magnetism, I don't care what you say; I don't care what you do; you will never get me out of the Christian Science practice." Something happened in that inspired moment. It was as if a light had been turned on. It was actually the light of the Christ, the very power and presence of God, coming to my thought. It showed me in just an instant that I wasn't a struggling, vulnerable mortal wrestling with an aggressive organic condition that was threatening me. I glimpsed in just a flashing moment that God, Spirit, was the only true cause; that He had formed me out of His own spiritual substance; that I was His image of Himself expressed, the effect of His own self-knowing; that I was as free as He, divine Life, was; and that I was completely safe and secure in the tender care of my dear Father-Mother Love. In that instant I was completely, totally, permanently freed.
Most of us have had a watershed experience at one time or another that has set us on a particular path. That healing was my watershed moment, and it welded me to this statement in Science and Health: "Whoever reaches the understanding of Christian Science in its proper signification will perform the sudden cures of which it is capable; but this can be done only by taking up the cross and following Christ in the daily life" (pp. 178–179). I took the word whoever as a promise that included everyone.
How does "taking up the cross" bring healing and enable us to heal others? How can it actually bring joy and inspiration?
In my own experience, I have found "taking up the cross" to be both disciplining and strengthening. It disciplines because it requires honest self-examination and a willingness to stamp out the error of fleshly origin, as well as the negative traits that claim to be part of our makeup. It strengthens because the very discipline it requires forces us to find our true freedom in thinking and living joyfully under the care and protection of divine Love.
True cross-bearing requires self-renunciation, humility, and unselfed love. It demands a spiritual baptism that washes away the stain of sensuality, and with this comes Jesus' benediction: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). Yielding to the demand for self-renunciation brings kindness, sensitivity, and a deep penetrating love that magnifies the good in others—recognizing God as the origin of that good. At the same time, it stirs up, uncovers, and removes whatever opposes good, as when pouring in pure water flushes contaminated water out of a glass. Renouncing a false, material sense of self enables us to see God as divine Love, and all of us in our true being as Love's self-manifestation—loved, lovable, and loving. What appears at first as the heaviness of the cross is transformed into the joy that comes from overcoming the ills of the flesh. It enables us to see the glory of the risen Christ. It brings the atmosphere of thought that promotes genuine Christian Science healing.
What is it today that would attempt to hinder or divert Christian Scientists from committing all their energies to furthering this great Cause?
It's what Paul called "the carnal mind" (Rom. 8:7), animal magnetism, which hates God and His Christ, hates good and spiritual progress. It attempts to cloud and dilute the spiritual mission of Church, attenuate its message, shackle its faithful workers, and minimize its effect on humanity. It attempts to sow disunity and misunderstanding among church members. It attempts to leech their inspiration and paralyze them from taking forward steps. It attempts to move them out of the straight and narrow way of safety into the broad way that leads to destruction.
The effect of animal magnetism on the Church is like that of separating a flower from the sunlight. The growth of the flower begins at first to slow down. Then it appears to stagnate, and then to wilt. The outward appearance might be falling petals, drooping leaves, and a weakening stem. Propping up the languishing flower is no lasting help. The outward appearance of withering is just the result of the underlying problem—separation from the sunlight. Return the flower to the light and it flourishes again. In the same way, when animal magnetism is seen as a non-power, a non-event—because of the allness and onlyness of good—the Church, like the languishing flower, regains its vigor and progresses again.
Commitment to the Cause comes naturally when one builds on the solid foundation of the teachings of this Science.
Over the years I have found four fundamental "pilings" to be an indispensable support to my understanding and application of Christian Science: 1) a clear understanding of God; 2) a clear understanding of man and his relation to God; 3) a clear understanding of how to give a Christian Science treatment; 4) a clear understanding of how to handle error or animal magnetism. As I see it, the lack of any one of these pilings leads to an unsound building.
An understanding of God without an understanding of man and his relation to God fosters an absolutism that is like looking into a mirror without seeing a reflection—a creator without a creation. An understanding of God, man, and man's relation to God, without an understanding of how to give a Christian Science treatment as explained in Science and Health (see p. 410) leads to abstraction and ineffectiveness. An understanding of God, man, and how to treat, without handling error, could negate the very treatment that has been given. But by building on the strong foundation exemplified by those four pilings, the superstructure, or student's practice, is prepared to stand the storms of time. The cement that binds all the pilings together is an unselfed love that reflects divine Love and radiates that love to others from one's own life. The practical application of Christian Science with its pure logic, brings proofs of its efficacy, and one becomes convinced that there's nothing more important in the world, or to the world, than aiding this Cause.
The Cause of Christian Science isn't time-sensitive. It is for all time, in all places, and for all people.
It's the gift of divine Love to humanity. It's the Science of Christianity revealing Jesus' teaching and practice as provable today for everyone. The love of divine Science that I found as a young man welded my thought in gratitude to its Discoverer, Mary Baker Eddy. Recognizing the God-appointed channel through which the discovery has come maintains the integrity and authority of the message. Mrs. Eddy wrote in a letter: "All the people need, in order to love and adopt Christian Science, is the true sense of its Founder. In proportion as they have it, will our Cause advance" (We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, p. 119).
Mrs. Eddy didn't create the Science. She uncovered and revealed it. She constantly turned people from contemplating her personality to the mission and purpose of her life. Animal magnetism, the sensuous will of the carnal mind, attempts to resist and belittle both the message and the messenger in order to separate them from each other—because to undermine one is to undermine the other. But the discovery is inseparable from the Discoverer, as Mrs. Eddy explains: "Christian Science is my only ideal; and the individual and his ideal can never be severed. If either is misunderstood or maligned, it eclipses the other with the shadow cast by this error" (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 105).
The question today is not how the world perceives Christian Science; but rather, how committed are Christian Scientists to presenting the purity of this Science to the world?
The Church of Christ, Scientist, has a vital mission to perform in helping the world overcome evil's downward materialistic gravitations. Humankind is desperately seeking the comforting love of divine Love. The world appears to be balancing on a knife-edge—wavering between unimaginable progress and catastrophic destruction. So-called natural disasters, together with brutality, terrorism, greed, dishonesty, selfishness, sensualism, and a whole litany of other issues, present themselves daily.
More than ever, the practical ministrations of Divine Science, the Holy Ghost, are here to benefit mankind and to free the world from sin—the higher mission of the Comforter (see John 1:29).
The author of Science and Health closed a chapter of her book with these words that speak to the hearts and minds of Christian Scientists today and tomorrow: "The promises will be fulfilled. The time for the reappearing of the divine healing is throughout all time; and whosoever layeth his earthly all on the altar of divine Science, drinketh of Christ's cup now, and is endued with the spirit and power of Christian healing" (p. 55).
The healing power of the Comforter is here. The world's desperate need for the Comforter is here. The opportunity to meet that need is available to all those willing to fully commit themselves to the greatest Cause on earth.
