To human sense, God cannot be understood until His power is proved. Have you ever tried explaining the allness of God to someone? “There is no matter” can be quite a conversation-stopper. The material world just doesn’t “get it”—and, frankly, it never will. In the Bible, even Philip on the night of the Last Supper asked Jesus: “Shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us” (John 14:8). And this was one of the disciples, who had spent three years with Jesus—the man upon whom God poured His spirit “without measure” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 30). As their abandonment of Jesus at the crucifixion showed, all but one of the disciples still failed to grasp the immensity of what Jesus taught, which was nothing less than the revelation of the allness and goodness of God, Spirit.
Today, when it might seem easier to rely on material “things”—whether it’s the Internet for a sense of enjoyment, a bank account for a sense of well-being, or medical treatment for a sense of health—the space we leave open for Spirit can feel as if it’s shrinking. Relying on God utterly and only—the central tenet of Jesus’ ministry—is in some quarters seen as naive and even reckless. Moreover, the current of modern thought can, in the words of Jesus, “deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24)—causing the spiritually minded to doubt their convictions. In short, many aspects of the modern world seem to make it hard for some to follow Christian Science joyfully and faithfully.
That explains why Mary Baker Eddy once said: “The true Science—divine Science—will be lost sight of again unless we arouse ourselves.… The building up of churches, the writing of articles, and the speaking in public is the old way of building up a cause. The way I brought this Cause into sight was through healing; …” (Lida Fitzpatrick, We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Expanded Edition, Volume II, pp. 111–112).
