For some time now I have been pondering how well we really know how to practice Christian Science. One evening while attending a symphony concert I was impressed with what it meant to practice, and what practice could achieve. As I listened to a world-renowned pianist play a Bartok concerto, I thought of the countless hours he had practiced.
What made him practice, practice, practice? He must have felt within himself a great talent and a love for it. Practice became an integral part of his daily living; it required self-discipline, diligence, a desire for perfection. Its reward was the joy of being able to share his talent with others. The practice made it possible.
The greatest of all talents is the ability to prove the Christ and its Science. This talent applies to the whole range of living. Faithfully exercising this talent, we can face difficult circumstances. We can heal sickness, mental disturbance, and sin, as Jesus expected his followers to do.
Practice implies working at something until perfection is reached. So it is with spiritual truths. They need to be practiced, that is, worked with until the spiritual sense of the words has been understood and demonstrated. Repetition in our prayer is not parrotlike. Rather, it denotes a desire to understand fully the meaning of the message and its application to the situation.
In the book We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, one of the early workers records this incident: "One day Mrs. Eddy called the workers to her. Their mental work seemingly had been ineffective and depressing. She said in effect: Never become discouraged, dear ones. This work is not humdrum, it is growth. It is repeating and defeating, repeating and defeating, repeating and defeating. Is not this the way a mathematician becomes a mathematician?" We Knew Mary Baker Eddy (Boston: The Christian Science Publishing Society, 1979), p. 113.
In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy asks the question, "How can I progress most rapidly in the understanding of Christian Science?"
She answers in part: "Study thoroughly the letter and imbibe the spirit. Adhere to the divine Principle of Christian Science and follow the behests of God, abiding steadfastly in wisdom, Truth, and Love." Science and Health, p. 495. Paul stressed a similar point to Timothy when he wrote, "Study [that is, do your best] to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." II Tim. 2:15. Are we studying, pondering thoroughly, the revealed Word found in the Bible and in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, and practicing it? We need to go on "repeating and defeating" until spiritual understanding is attained step by step.
For example, "the scientific statement of being" found on page 468 of Science and Health is a statement that Christian Scientists turn to under many and various circumstances. Basic to the teachings of Christian Science, it reads: "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."
Do we ponder what we are saying, or do we attempt to use a statement of truth as a magic formula? The pondering and the understanding of truth, and the application of this understanding to every situation, constitute practice—the genuine practice that brings healing.
Divine intelligence tells us that Spirit, Soul, is All-in-all. Man as the idea of Spirit is always healthy and happy. We need to practice this fact—deepen our grasp of it and let it govern our thoughts —until the false belief is defeated and disappears. Genuine prayer brings the spiritual understanding and inspiration that demonstrate the Science of Christ and the truth that man is spiritual, not material.
Because Jesus embodied the Christ in every instance, he healed the sick, redeemed the sinner, and raised the dead. His own resurrection culminated in his ascension. We are followers of Christ Jesus. When we accept Christian Science, we have begun our resurrection. What is "resurrection"? Science and Health gives this metaphysical interpretation: "Spiritualization of thought; a new and higher idea of immortality, or spiritual existence; material belief yielding to spiritual understanding." Science and Health, p. 593.
We need to practice the truths we know; then reach out for higher and deeper understanding until the human yields to the divine. Only then are we moving on toward ascension—the full attainment of the Science of Christ.
Some of our problems yield easily; or, we might say in some instances, we yield more willingly to the Word of God. Often, difficult or chronic problems demand perseverance in our declarations of the truth. Faithfulness and persistence in our practice bring healing.
Conquering chronic beliefs requires us to study and ponder the Science of Christ. Practicing what we have learned makes us working metaphysicians who know the power of Christ so surely that we become masters over errors of every kind. As we practice truth, we are enabled to recognize aggressive mental suggestion and meet it fearlessly and confidently.
Be like the pianist. Love the talent of knowing the Christ as taught in Christian Science and love to practice it. Don't be discouraged by what may seem the hours, days, weeks, months, and years it takes to work out the problem of existence. Love every opportunity for progress. Even if a challenge appears as the same old lie we wrestled with before, we can know and prove that it must submit to resurrected thought. We need to practice until every mortal fault, every mortal belief, is destroyed and perfection is demonstrated.
