Sensation is generally associated with the belief that matter is intelligent, that it can see, smell, hear, taste, and touch. Real sensation is spiritual and is independent of material brain, nerves, and the flesh, for man, the reflection of God, Spirit, is cognizant only of that which is spiritual, that which emanates from divine Mind.
Christian Science teaches that the real senses of each individual are spiritually mental, that the sensations of pain and pleasure are not in matter but that they are the effects of the suggestion of a mind apart from God and His creation. This false mind, called "a liar" by Christ Jesus, "the carnal mind" by Paul, and "mortal mind" by Mrs. Eddy, mesmerically appears to project its erroneous claim to reality on individual thought and body through the five physical senses.
Those endeavoring to understand the scientific meaning of perception and sensation find the following statement by Mrs. Eddy most helpful. It is from "Miscellaneous Writings" and reads (p. 72): "Matter is manifest mortal mind, and it exists only to material sense. Real sensation is not material; it is, and must be, mental: and Mind is not mortal, it is immortal. Being is God, infinite Spirit; therefore it cannot cognize aught material, or outside of infinity."
Real sensation is always a spiritual impression. Because it originates in Mind, not brain, nerves play no part in its conveyance. That which God communicates to His creation must be Godlike and can have only a beneficial effect. Impressions that emanate from Soul are sensations that are truly pleasurable, and so their enjoyment never enslaves or harms. Instead, Mind's impressions tell us of our perfect contentment and wholeness. By demonstrating man's true senses, the senses of Soul, we become aware of Godlike qualities, which bring freedom, comfort, happiness, beauty, and tranquillity to individuals. We might think of these incorporeal impartations, flowing forth from the creator to His creation, as spiritual sensations.
A recognition of the constant presence of the senses of Soul and their manifestations, spiritual sensations, has brought the writer physical healing on several occasions. At one time she struck her ankle with great force on the sharp edge of an unseen protruding shelf. Because she rejected the possibility of there being any sensation in matter, or any reality in the five physical senses, the false sensations of pain and numbness were quickly controlled and ceased to make an impression on her consciousness. In this way the usual aftereffects of swelling and discoloration were prevented from appearing on her body. The same line of reasoning has healed sensations of soreness generally associated with cuts and burns and has eliminated blisters and scars.
If we wish to attain and maintain the permanent joys and beauties of life, our present concepts of the senses, even those which seem most pleasing, need to be purified. We must put off the mortal, material senses; we must exchange them for higher concepts of all things. Then we shall find our real senses in Soul.
In "Miscellaneous Writings," our Leader says (pp. 86, 87), "What mortals hear, see, feel, taste, smell, constitutes their present earth and heaven: but we must grow out of even this pleasing thraldom, and find wings to reach the glory of supersensible Life; then we shall soar above, as the bird in the clear ether of the blue temporal sky."
The material senses, reversed, reveal man's sensitivity to good. As one becomes aware of his Soul-given senses, a progressively higher sense of selfhood will be realized and manifested. An example of such healing is seen in that of Mary Magdalene, out of whom Jesus "had cast seven devils" (Mark 16:9). The Magdalen's demonstration of true sensitivity enabled her to perceive the purity of Soul expressed by Christ Jesus, and she could not resist its attraction. The Magdalen's conscious effort to turn from a false material sense of being to the truth of man's wholeness and his oneness with Spirit not only healed her but placed her in the sacred position of being the first to whom the Master appeared after the resurrection. How great must have been her gratitude for her newfound understanding of Soul and body!
The Apostle John's clear perception of the things of Spirit enabled him to hear, see, touch, and handle that which concerned the Word of Life. His Soul-sense empowered him to bear witness to eternal Life. John's testimony reads in part, "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ" (I John 1:3).
Christ Jesus was the perfect example of an individual governed by the senses of Soul. He knew that to hold to the perception of these senses would dissolve the Adam-dream. Jesus had a human mother, and so he was able to understand mankind's beliefs in the reality of physical sensation. But could he have reversed their false beliefs and taught others to do the same if he had acknowledged for one moment that they were real? Instead, the Master saw the senses of Soul as the only reality. And because of his scientific sense of being, he was able to resist in the wilderness Satan's offers, designed to appeal to corporeality, and say to the tempter, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Matt. 4:10).
How great is the Christian Scientist's gratitude to Mrs. Eddy for revealing man's true senses as wholly spiritual! Mrs. Eddy knew that men can be united in Love only as the testimony of their finite personal senses is replaced by the evidence of the senses of Soul. Each of us is destined to express these in an individual manner.
Turning again to our Leader's writings, we read (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 360),"When Christian Science has melted away the cloud of false witnesses; and the dews of divine grace, falling upon the blighted flowers of fleeting joys, shall lift every thought-leaflet Spiritward; and 'Israel after the flesh,' who partaketh of its own altars, shall be no more,—then, 'the Israel according to Spirit' shall fill earth with the divine energies, understanding, and ever-flowing tides of spiritual sensation and consciousness."
It was the "ever-flowing tides of spiritual sensation and consciousness" which empowered the Way-shower to withstand the tortures of the crucifixion and go on to the resurrection and ascension.
The understanding that man has Christly capacity to sense the true and unerring enables us to recognize the angelic impressions from divine Love which are ever present to meet our every need. To demonstrate scientific satisfaction, we must further develop our own perception of the angelic impressions that come from Soul. Then pain, frustration, ignorance, false enjoyment, and other offspring of material sense will be replaced with comfort, bliss, refinement, spirituality, and genuine contentment—some of the glorious manifestations of the senses of Soul.
