Q: Many years ago, when I wasn’t at all acquainted with Christian Science, the pediatrician who cared for my children remarked one day that many illnesses clear up all by themselves, with no need for a doctor’s care or medicine. Now, after studying Christian Science for several years, I am troubled by this remark. When an individual, Christian Scientist or not, is healed spontaneously, with no intervention—be it medical, natural (plant medicine, etc.) or otherwise—what are we to think? Is Christ healing sometimes operative even when Christian Science treatment is not requested? —A reader in France
A1: Each spring I stand in awe of the sudden popping out of leaves all over the trees in my neighborhood. One day a tree looks barren, and the next day beautiful, new green life appears. It looks so phenomenal, but an arborist would assure me it is a very normal, natural part of the fundamental nature of the tree. In just the same way, the pediatrician is witnessing and acknowledging a young child’s innate nature to be quickly and wholly well. Christian Science would point to this as the action of the Christ, the manifestation of God, Principle, seen in the human experience. But irrespective of the perspective, witnessing this kind of restoration is reason for rejoicing by everyone. There really is such purity in the recognition that it is natural for health to be restored effortlessly. Mary Baker Eddy explained this so-called phenomenon, which she found to be a consistent law, and so referred to it as a Science, which she wrote “. . . knows no lapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine order or spiritual law, in which God and all that He creates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged in its eternal history” (Science and Health, p. 471). The term healing in Christian Science is a misnomer, if by it we mean “fixing” something through prayer. Rather, healing is witnessing the innate perfection that has always been. I love the word forever as used at the end of the Lord’s Prayer, because it acknowledges that our perfection always has been and always will be intact. Man’s perfection is forever, and we have the privilege to recognize and acknowledge this mighty fact for everyone. The recognition of an awakening to better health is reason for rejoicing by those who witness it! As the one healed comes to realize that health is based in spirituality and isn’t a material phenomenon, the healing becomes sure and permanent.
OAKTON, VIRGINIA, US
