In the world of theater, to “break the fourth wall” is to remove the illusion of separation between the audience and the players onstage. A stage set usually has three solid walls, and then an invisible “fourth wall” between the actors and the audience. While this “wall” seems to separate the two groups, there is, of course, no actual barrier keeping them apart. The seeming obstruction is unsubstantial and could be breached at any time.
I started thinking about this recently as I was pondering what it is that at times seems to separate us from the healing outcomes we long for when we pray. “What could be a seeming barrier between oneself and a demonstration of the Christ Science, the laws of God practiced by Christ Jesus? Is a seeming impediment to demonstrating this as permeable as the ‘fourth wall’ of a theater?” I wondered. Would being afraid healing might not be possible be similar to how we’re in the habit of expecting actors and the audience not to interact?
While overcoming whatever resistance to Christian healing we may face is something each individual can take up with God, I think a factor to consider is the unbelief prevalent in society today, which may subtly leach into our thinking. But the good news is that this mental wall can be penetrated as we come to realize that nothing can truly hamper the Christ—the Truth that heals. In substance, therefore, the seeming wall is nonexistent.
