It can be pretty easy to think of the story of Jesus’ nativity in the Gospels in terms of a series of enormously difficult obstacles that were overcome through a seemingly impossible series of events. The account ends with the “miraculous” appearing of God’s Son in the form of a vulnerable-looking baby—the Christ child—who, even after being born, still has to contend with a king determined to do away with him.
Do we sometimes think of our own healing efforts from a similar perspective? Do we find ourselves fixated on the labyrinth of symptoms and challenges we have to face, and then through intense efforts of studying and praying, expect to find the miraculous metaphysical needle in the haystack that will enable our infant sense of Christ to heal the problem? Then, even after we’ve experienced healing, do we still feel pursued by a Herod-like feeling that the harmony we’ve seen may only prove to be temporary? If so, can we really say we’re noticing the fullness of Christ in either the Christmas story or our own approach to healing?
No matter how much a material sense of things would encourage us to see the world through a lens where good and evil are perpetually battling things out, and with darkness often being the more dominant force, isn’t a basic message of Christmas that the manifestation of God’s goodness and light cannot be stopped, and that there can’t be any real opposition to what God is doing? Looking back, we realize Truth was in charge of the whole thing from the outset and the outcome was never in doubt. The angel Gabriel’s visit and message to the Virgin Mary, telling her that she would bring forth the Savior by the Holy Ghost, didn’t end in a question mark. The light from the star of Bethlehem was in no danger of fizzling out due to all of the darkness it had to break through. The Christmas story is the story of God and His Christ, the spiritual idea of Truth, declaring to all the world and for all time, that Spirit is supreme, and the only true creator.
That spiritual fact of Christ’s message is still speaking to each of us, if we’re ready to notice. Like the light of the Bethlehem star, it still leads us to see that what God creates, must be like God—spiritual. The first step toward having more Christmas is noticing more Christmas, which is the bright appearing of the supremacy of Spirit. As Mary Baker Eddy writes, “An eternal Christmas would make matter an alien save as phenomenon, and matter would reverentially withdraw itself before Mind.” And she continues, “In Christian Science, Christmas stands for the real, the absolute and eternal,—for the things of Spirit, not of matter” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 260).
The reason this is important to our practice of spiritual healing through Christian Science is because it helps us not lose sight of the fact that Christ is infinitely larger than whatever particular perception we may have made about it at any given moment. If we assume that the power of Christ to heal us is dependent on our present level of understanding, we might as well assume that if we plug something into a high-voltage power line, we’re only going to get an amount of energy equal to our understanding of electricity.
The infinite power of Christ exists. We can’t add anything to it, nor take anything from it, no matter how hard we may try to generate or control it through human effort. Christ cannot be contained or constrained by assumptions of limitation. If we’re not making the kind of progress we’d like to see in healing, is it perhaps because we’re thinking of the Christ as our own little effort under development? Can we, instead, focus more on accepting the certainty and victory of God’s appearing in our lives, which is what the activity of Christ is all about? Then, we’ll be able to declare what Mary said to the angel Gabriel: “Be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).
While it may be stating the obvious, it’s worth remembering that every genuine healing of sickness or sin brought about through the application of Christian Science happens through the activity of Christ. We’d expect as much in an applied Science with Christ as its focus. The less obvious point is how often we don’t notice the fullness of Christ’s healing and saving activity in our lives, even when we’re trying to pay attention.
The good news is that even if we feel we have only an infant-sized understanding of Christ, that will be enough. Why? Because Christ is Truth, and Truth isn’t diminished by how much error is being suggested against it, any more than light is diminished by darkness. We can trust that Christ is in charge of how we experience Christ. It will enable us to overcome the fear imposed by a material sense of things. We will not be made to forget that the actual Christ is greater than any concerns we have about our present understanding of it, and infinitely greater than the mortal picture of life and intelligence in matter.
When we’re watching a movie, we may be thoroughly engaged in whatever story or image is being projected, whether good or bad, but we never give up our capacity to remember that it is, in fact, just a movie. Christ doesn’t let our inherent capacity to discern the difference between what is real and what isn’t, be taken away. In our heart of hearts, we know we are spiritual because Christ never stops speaking to us, assuring us of this fact of salvation, and showing us how to prove it more and more each day.
We do need to grow in our understanding of Christian Science, and we will. We can’t love God and stay stuck where we are any more than Jesus could have lived his life in a manger. The reality that Spirit is supreme and governing the universe harmoniously is a fact. Every time we choose to listen for what Christ, the true idea of being, is voicing to us in any situation, we are waking more to that fact. Every time we opt to give in to fear, sin, or sensualism, we are sleeping through what’s really going on.
The discovery of Christian Science brought a realization that Christ’s power to heal and manifest God’s presence here and now, did not leave after the time when Jesus walked the earth, even if this revolutionary fact has yet to be fully noticed. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy is filled with illuminating explanations of Christ. For example, it teaches us to understand Christ as “the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error” (p. 583).
This larger understanding of Christ makes the study of the whole arc of Jesus’ life not just inspiring, but empowering. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus’ healing and teaching give vivid evidence of our ability to express God, to realize that we are the complete image of God, not a few sketch lines. We come to notice how Christ—the activity of God, good—animated Jesus’ every act and thought. We also come to realize how this same Christ is present to bring out good in us and to destroy whatever suggestion is arguing that matter has standing before God.
Recently, I was sitting in a park, watching birds come and go at a nearby fountain. I found myself wondering, “Do birds have any idea how remarkable it is that they can fly?” Are we noticing how remarkable it is that we can love, think, express joy and holiness, and yes, heal? And doesn’t it feel like we’re soaring when we do? Matter can’t do those things. They only come through Christ. Are we noticing?
Scott Preller
Member of the Christian Science Board of Directors
