Looking to be a better healer? Then you’ll want to keep an eye out for articles like this one, appearing periodically in The Christian Science Journal, Sentinel, and Herald. Their aim: to correct some of the misconceptions about Christian Science that would keep us from having the results we so desire.
Late one evening, when our daughter was young, she was awakened by a bad dream. I comforted her and assured her that the frightening images were unreal, and that they could not hurt her. She surprised me when she calmed down and responded, “It was just my thinking!” It was already clear to her that it was not something real and tangible that was frightening to her, but something that was merely thought.
And isn’t this true for you and me as well? When we are startled, concerned, or fearful, we can recognize the role that thinking plays, and turn to God to eliminate the fear.
Does that mean if there’s something wrong with us, it’s all in our thinking? Yes and no. Yes, in the understanding that all error of experience is first in thought. It is a manifestation of mortal mind, or the carnal mind, as St. Paul calls it (see Romans 8:7). Proverbs 23:7 notes, “For as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.” No, in the spiritual understanding that all true thought emanates from God, divine Mind, to Mind’s expression, man. We must understand the difference between mortal mind and divine Mind—between thought that is matter-based and thought that is God-centered. This understanding wakens us to that spiritual fact that, in reality, all thought emanates from divine Mind, which is always good. Then we are able to recognize that sickness, disease, sin, are not really part of our thinking but impositions on thought that the right understanding of God and man removes. If something fearful passes before our thought, we have a choice either to bow down to it, fear it, and run from it, or spiritually understand its native unreality—that it is not from God, good, and so is powerless.
The more we look away from the false to the true, the more goodness is engraved in our understanding and heart.
Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “To be immortal, we must forsake the mortal sense of things, turn from the lie of false belief to Truth, and gather the facts of being from the divine Mind. The body improves under the same regimen which spiritualizes the thought; and if health is not made manifest under this regimen, this proves that fear is governing the body” (p. 370).
The first step is to recognize that the false concept or imposition is merely a misstatement of good, of God and man’s perfection. It is not a spiritual fact, and therefore has no reality or truth. A misstatement of any statement of truth never makes it real, true, or actual. Falsity is not an entity but a misconception, and this is why it is corrected with truth, bringing healing.
The second step is to turn from the false thought to divine Mind, and establish firmly in thought that God and His idea is perfect and is the reality. Learning to recognize and turn away from a misconception makes us simultaneously turn toward Truth. Then we begin to see the spiritual facts of man’s being and the problem dissolves because thought is uplifted and becomes more spiritual. This scientific, mental course of turning from the false to the true proves that as thought is spiritualized, the body is improved.
In the biblical account of Christ Jesus healing the centurion’s servant of palsy, it is notable that Jesus draws out the thought of the centurion, who confesses he feels unworthy for Jesus to visit his home. He does, however, trust in Jesus’ authority, because the centurion understands what it means to be in a position of authority. He trusts that whatever Jesus commands will be manifested. The account says: “And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour” (Matthew 8:13).
In Christian Science we learn that thought determines experience. So, how do we remove false beliefs from consciousness, and replace them with right spiritual ideas from God, divine Mind? Mrs. Eddy writes: “The harmony and immortality of man are intact. We should look away from the opposite supposition that man is created materially, and turn our gaze to the spiritual record of creation, to that which should be engraved on the understanding and heart ‘with the point of a diamond’ and the pen of an angel” (Science and Health, p. 521).
Looking away doesn’t mean ignoring a problem, whitewashing it with positive statements, or pretending it doesn’t exist. It means turning our thought to God, good, and discovering what He knows about the situation and His creation. It means delving more deeply into man’s spiritual origin. In this way we exchange the false for the real, fear for the right sense of God and man’s relationship. This spiritual turning enables us to see the native nothingness of a false belief, because it has no source in the infinite goodness of God.
When we consciously and courageously start with God, good, this reveals His creation, man, as His expression, as the very thought of God.
The more we look away from the false to the true, the more goodness is engraved in our understanding and heart, but this can never be achieved if we vacillate between the real and unreal as if both were legitimate and tangible. All right ideas emanate from divine Mind and are expressed in Mind’s creation, man. In truth, we can never think or be anything opposite from divine Mind, because we are the immediate expression of Mind. Whenever it appears that we have thoughts separate from divine Mind, this is our clue to know that such thoughts are unreal and can be destroyed with the spiritual, right idea of God and man’s unity. We don’t need to fall for the false suggestion that there’s something wrong with us or our thinking when we’re facing a problem. Rather, we must recognize it as a false belief, a misconception, that has no spiritual source, no source in God, good, and so can be corrected and eliminated by Truth.
I had to do this after I badly sliced my finger. It was a deep cut, and the slightest use of the hand only made the wound worse. The next day, I had an appointment to keep, which included conducting a meeting. It was necessary to continue my activities, but I was unsure how to bandage the finger. After much prayer—turning away from the picture of injury and holding instead to the spiritual reality of perfect God and perfect man—I decided to keep the finger unbandaged and went to the day-long meeting confident that all was well. And it was, though the wound was still very evident. At the end of the day, however, as I relaxed on the couch, I noticed a tingling in the finger. I looked down and literally watched the wound close and disappear. That was the end of it. My turning from the false belief—the misconception—to the divine evidence of God and man’s unity, proved the point in Christian Science that as we gather the facts of being from the divine Mind and spiritualize thought, the body improves, and health is manifested.
Mortal mind, or matter-based belief, disguises itself as our own thinking. It often comes in the first person: “I don’t feel well” or “I am not able to . . .” or “I am not worthy of . . . .” This thinking is not ours at all. It is merely a suggestion that we are material, mortal, limited, and fearful. And for this very reason, we can turn away from these thoughts and grasp the God-given truth instead. When mortal mind says, “I am not able to do well at my job,” we can reverse that aggressive suggestion and scientifically know that we are able to do our job because we reflect all intelligence from divine Mind, God. When the din of the carnal mind states, “I am sick,” we can reverse that misstatement, and base our reasoning in Christianly scientific fact by knowing that we are not sick because we reflect divine Love, which surrounds us and cares perfectly and constantly for us.
When we consciously and courageously start with God, good, this reveals His creation, man, as His expression, as the very thought of God. This is our true status as God’s child, and so we never have a thought opposite to, or separate from, the infinite divine Mind. This is our true being, our real, actual condition, and no aggressive mental suggestion has any power to overthrow the reality of God and our relationship to God. Then we know we have successfully engraved on our heart and understanding the reality of God and man “with the point of a diamond and the pen of an angel.”
