Throughout her writings, Mary Baker Eddy explains that it is not the intention of Christian Science that people rely on it only when they feel ill or when faced with inharmony. We must live this Science every day.
In her book Rudimental Divine Science, Mrs. Eddy raised the question “Is healing the sick the whole of Science?” (p. 2). Of course, healing through Christian Science is very important because everybody wants to be healthy, but as her answer to that question indicates, Mrs. Eddy saw that the spiritual healing of sickness is not all that counts. Christian Science, building on what Jesus showed through his words and works, gives a true and complete picture of reality, revealing the true nature of man, being, and the universe. And the implications of that extend well beyond healing illness. She answered her question this way: “Healing physical sickness is the smallest part of Christian Science. It is only the bugle-call to thought and action, in the higher range of infinite goodness. The emphatic purpose of Christian Science is the healing of sin; and this task, sometimes, may be harder than the cure of disease; because, while mortals love to sin, they do not love to be sick” (pp. 2–3).
So this Science is not to be used as a mental poultice applied to physical troubles. This Science is to be felt, lived, and practiced in every aspect of our day-to-day existence, as we seek to live sin-free in keeping with our Godlike nature. Christian Science teaches us that the only being we have is spiritual because our being is a reflection of the divine Spirit, God, and we can experience this sin-free spiritual reality in our lives here and now.
