Q: What are the roles of the practitioner and the patient in working together for healing? It sometimes seems to those who call a practitioner that the practitioner is expecting the patient to heal himself.
A: The healing practice of Christian Science is a sacred ministry. It’s all about understanding, loving, and obeying God. As a Christian Science practitioner, I feel that the practice requires me to keep my own thoughts, words, and deeds 100 percent loyal and responsive to God in every aspect of my life, so that God’s healing, transforming love will shine through me to meet the needs of each precious individual who calls on me for help. That’s how Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy healed.
Mrs. Eddy wrote in Science and Health, “God will heal the sick through man, whenever man is governed by God” (p. 495). To be so governed is God’s demand on the Christian Science practitioner. It should be the focal point of his or her life and work at all times. Primarily, this means seeking daily to gain and maintain a clear spiritual understanding of God—the synonyms and attributes that define His nature and the spiritual and perfect nature of His creation—through study of the Scriptures and Science and Health. These books also contain the foundational rules for Christian Science practice, the main one being the practitioner’s obedient conformity to God’s requirements.
