Will B. Davis, C.S.B., of Chicago, Illinois
Member of the Board of Lectureship of The
Mother Church,
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts
Delivered in Convention Hall, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Friday evening, April 18, 1952, under the auspices of Third Church of Christ, Scientist, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The lecturer was introduced by Mrs. Emily C. McWilliams, who said:
Friends: Third Church of Christ, Scientist, of Tulsa cordially welcomes you to this lecture, entitled, "Christian Science: The Simplicity of Its Healing Method" by Mr. Will B. Davis, C.S.B., of Chicago, Illinois, who is a member of the Board of Lectureship of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts.
That the healing method of Christian Science is simple, I can truly testify; for I knew that God is Love and that Love heals much before I learned that two plus two equals four. Each one of us is seeking healing. The world is in need of healing. Our lecturer, with his instructive message, will show us that this purification and regeneration is free to all. Mr. Davis —
The lecturer spoke substantially as follows:
In a comparatively short period of time, as far as human history is concerned, the world has become a neighborhood; and this dramatic development is vitally affecting the life of every individual in every nation. This new proximity of the nations seems to have fostered unprecedented selfishness and materialism. The question may present itself to many of us, Has there ever been a more disturbing world-wide picture? And again, Why in this enlightened age should there not be a more peaceful and satisfactory way to solve human problems? There is. But the tendency of humanity is to look far afield for the answer and to forget that as we learn to solve our own problems on the basis of the teachings of Christ Jesus, we shall have found that there is no other satisfactory way to solve world affairs.
Let me share with you a most interesting bit of history to illustrate what I have just said. It concerns Shimmabuke, a very small native village of a few hundred inhabitants on the island of Okinawa. More than thirty years ago, an American missionary, on his way to Japan, stopped at Shimmabuke just long enough to tell two brothers there of Christ Jesus and of his earthly mission, and to leave with them a copy of the Bible translated into their language.
For thirty years, these two men did not see another Christian, but during this time they studied the Bible from cover to cover and taught what they were learning to the other villagers until every man, woman, and child had become a Christian.
Then came the American troops battling their way across the island. When the advance patrols entered Shimmabuke, their guns leveled, the two little old men stepped forth and bowing low began to speak. An interpreter explained that these men were welcoming our Army as fellow Christians. When the chaplain and officers of our intelligence service toured the village, what they saw astounded them. Instead of the poverty, ignorance, and filth which they had encountered in so many other villages on Okinawa, here were spotlessly clean homes and streets, men and women of poise and gentility, and a high level of health, happiness, intelligence, and prosperity.
The war correspondent to whom we are indebted for this story wrote the following: "I strolled through Shimmabuke one day with a tough old Army sergeant. As we walked, he turned to me and whispered hoarsely, 'I can't figure it, fellow — this kind of people coming out of only a Bible and a couple of old guys who wanted to live like Jesus.'" Then, after a moment of silence, the sergeant added, "Maybe we've been using the wrong kind of weapons to make the world over."
The unenlightened human mind has been educated to believe that only physical force or human warfare can maintain freedom, but in this generation we have the clearest evidence that these material weapons bring only a temporary solution. It is no longer possible to move away from the rest of the world, and it therefore becomes more apparent each day that the final solution of human problems must be worked out through mental or spiritual awakening. World salvation starts with love for God and man and therefore with each individual.
Those who have gained a workable understanding of the teachings of Christ Jesus must utilize these teachings for the benefit of all mankind. We must share with others the blessed enlightenment of Christianity, and to do this we must obey the command of Christ Jesus. He said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16).
In the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew it is recorded that the Master predicted "wars and rumours of wars," and warned against false prophets, and then he added, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matt. 24:14). That is, when we so live our lives that we witness by our individual and collective example that Christianity is the way of freedom from turmoil and disaster, "then shall the end come" — then shall there be an end to "wars and rumours of wars."
We have an obligation, then, and a vast responsibility and need to be watchful lest we allow the same selfishness and bitterness to be expressed in our affairs that we deplore in others. The inspired writings of the Bible spiritually understood are the only sure guide, and a full understanding of the teachings of Christ Jesus and the healing method he used not only will bring us sure protection but will ensure a continuation of our God-given heritage of freedom.
Never has a correct understanding of the Bible been more needed. The discovery of Christian Science came about in obedience to Bible prophesy. It came through Mary Baker Eddy, who had spent many years in an endeavor, through her study of the Bible, to learn how Jesus healed all manner of sickness and disease. It was the King James Version of the Bible which she studied in those days — the version used in many other churches and by all Christian Scientists.
Mrs. Eddy had become convinced that in these times there must be a way to use the same method of healing which Jesus used and taught his followers. If Paul, for example, who had never seen the human Jesus, could heal all manner of physical inharmony and even raise the dead without the use of material medicine, manipulation, or surgery, could not we do the same? The New Testament records the healing works of Jesus and his early followers; and by faithfully studying these writings and the healing works of the ancient prophets as well, Mrs. Eddy glimpsed enough of the method to be able to use it for herself in an extreme emergency. This was in February, 1866.
Of course, it was important to her to be well again. But the reason thousands of Christian Scientists are increasingly grateful to Mrs. Eddy is that she did not stop with her own healing. She knew then that the full revelation of the healing Christ, Truth, was available in the Scriptures, and she redoubled her efforts to find it there. She withdrew from society, and for three years she studied the Bible to clarify and complete her discovery; and by 1875 she was ready to publish the Christian Science textbook, which contains the complete revelation of the healing method used by our great Master.
Those of you in the audience who are not students of Christian Science and who have not as yet earnestly studied "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" have the privilege of learning that by studying this book each day, in connection with the Bible, you will be immeasurably helped.
All of your troubles may not fade out immediately, but I can assure you that eventually you will gain a peace of mind and health of body that you have never known before. Most of us are learning to face the problems of our human experience instead of running away from them, and the reason we, as Christian Scientists, so often express gratitude for the discovery of Christian Science by Mrs. Eddy is that this Science has shown us how to obey the Scriptural command, "And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed" (Heb. 12:13).
That Christian Science heals all manner of disease and physical inharmony, there is not the slightest doubt. The evidence has grown to such monumental volume that it can no longer be questioned, even by those who totally misunderstand the method used. There is no manipulation of the human mind in Christian Science treatment. The spiritual illumination which brings healing includes an acknowledgment of the divine Mind as the only creator. The fundamental premise of the inspired writings of the Bible is that God made man in His image and likeness. But for centuries a misunderstanding has arisen because mortals have mistakenly reasoned that the mortal, material man is the man referred to in this statement in the first chapter of Genesis. This false reasoning has led to the erroneous assumption that God must be manlike.
We learn quickly, as we carefully study the Christian Science textbook, that without a correct understanding of God it is impossible to gain a correct understanding of spiritual man, God's creation. Furthermore, we learn that this understanding is the first and most vital step in spiritual healing. Through the revelation of Christian Science that God, the perfect creator, could not produce an imperfect creation, we realize that the inharmonies of mortal existence must be illusions of the carnal mind. We then find, through experience, that such reasoning — which is true prayer — brings permanent awakening and healing into our human experience.
It sounds simple, doesn't it? It is simple, my friends. Even a child can accept the fact that God, divine Love, sends only good and that discord has no creator. There have been many instances of good healing work by very small children. Why does it sometimes seem so difficult, then, for the adult to accept the simple logic required in Christian Science healing? Is it not that we seem to have so much to unlearn and that we perhaps have formed the habit of being skeptical about almost everything?
The experience of a friend who is a Christian Science practitioner is a good illustration. This practitioner was on a vacation and became well acquainted with a ten-year-old boy who was not a Christian Scientist. One morning when this boy appeared, it was evident that his face was swollen, and his mother said he probably was coming down with the mumps. The practitioner wanted to help his young friend, and as they walked along together, he asked, "Do you attend Sunday School?" "Yes, I do," the boy replied. Then came the question, "'Do you remember reading from the Bible, 'And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good'?" (Gen. 1:31). The boy felt quite sure that he had heard this statement from the first chapter of Genesis. Then my friend pointed out that when we realize that this declaration is true, it becomes evident that God could not make mumps, for He does not have anything out of which He could make such things, and therefore they could not be real and need not be feared. Then the, boy asked, "Is this on the level?" and of course he was assured that it was. By the next morning all evidence of the swelling had disappeared.
Does the thought come to someone, "Perhaps it wasn't mumps — after all, it was not diagnosed as mumps"? But to the boy that point was not important. He had had a swollen face, and the swelling was gone. Later on he was overheard explaining to a playmate that he need not have a cold because God did not have anything from which colds could be made.
May I say to the beginner in the audience that it is just as possible for you to use this same spiritual logic. This boy had had no instruction in Christian Science, but he had been guided to grasp the fundamental reasoning on which every Christian Science treatment is based.
So often the question is asked, But how can prayer alone correct an inharmonious condition which is obviously physical? Members of the medical profession admit freely these days that erroneous states of thought produce erroneous bodily conditions. Our human experience is only mortal thought externalized, or objectified. The earnest study of Christian Science corrects erroneous misconceptions through spiritual understanding, which instructs human consciousness in things divine, and so brings harmony, health, and practical success into our daily affairs.
One very easily understood explanation of the Christian Science method in Mrs. Eddy's writings is contained in a single paragraph on page 251 of Science and Health. Let me read it: "We must learn how mankind govern the body, — whether through faith in hygiene, in drugs, or in will-power. We should learn whether they govern the body through a belief in the necessity of sickness and death, sin and pardon, or govern it from the higher understanding that the divine Mind makes perfect, acts upon the so-called human mind through truth, leads the human mind to relinquish all error, to find the divine Mind to be the only Mind, and the healer of sin, disease, death. This process of higher spiritual understanding improves mankind until error disappears, and nothing is left which deserves to perish or to be punished."
Clear reasoning is required lest we attribute to God things which are the very opposite of His divine nature and beneficent goodness. If God is wholly good — and this is what the Bible teaches — His creation must be like Him. Even God could not send to His children that which He would not, in fact could not, create. God is Love and, as a hymn from the Christian Science Hymnal expresses it, "Love's work and Love must fit."
Almost everyone will answer Yes to such questions as these: Is God all-powerful? Is God the only power? Is God wholly good? However, it has been common practice either to attribute sickness, disaster, and even death, to this wholly good, all-loving God or, on the other hand, to believe that there must be another mind or power which creates evil. The discovery of Christian Science has made it possible for anyone to gain the spiritual understanding which eliminates such a confusing and incorrect concept of God and His creation.
In Christian Science, Mind is one of the synonyms which defines God. Mind, which is God, is all-knowing, and this must include knowing all reality in the future, as well as in the present. So is it not plain that if God could know evil at all He must know beforehand all the sickness and suffering which is to be? If God knew that evil were to occur in the future, He would stop it before it started; for God is Love, and a loving God would not permit or plan discord.
And so when evil comes to us in various guises, we ask ourselves: Did Love send it? Did Love plan it? Is it like Love? Has Love been maintaining pain, disease, decay, dislocation, inflammation, or war? Our positive answer is the assuring thought that Love gives only good. It is in knowing Love well enough that we shall cease to see in our environment even a belief of anything Love did not create.
Then the question presents itself to the beginner, If God does not know evil and did not plan it, where did it come from? A satisfying answer to this question unfolds with spiritual growth and may be gained by anyone who will consistently and prayerfully study the Christian Science textbook. It is in the proportion that we attain an understanding of the unreality and powerlessness of any mind, power, or law opposed to God that good is recognized as the only reality. Mrs. Eddy often uses the words "in proportion," "proportionately," etc. For example, she writes, "Our proportionate admission of the claims of good or of evil determines the harmony of our existence, — our health, our longevity, and our Christianity" (Science and Health, p. 167).
Christ Jesus must have had a sure conviction of the eternal nature of good. This awareness of God's all-presence and all-power is the Christ-consciousness. It was the Christ, the divine nature or godliness, expressed by the human man Jesus that gave him authority over all human discord. The ever-present Christ, Truth, was demonstrated fully by Jesus of Nazareth, and this enabled him to prove that the divine plan for man is eternal life, health, harmony, freedom, and adequate supply. Jesus predicted that even greater works would be done by "them that believe," for he knew that all are capable of expressing the Christ and therefore that there need be no limit to the good which may be gained by accepting and practicing what he taught. Since Jesus came to destroy sin, sickness, and death, surely these discords are evil and are not included in the divine arrangement for the children of God.
What a vast difference we find between the divine plan of ever-unfolding good and the superstitious theories of fatalism. The fatalist argues that there is not much use in trying, since we cannot escape our destiny. Disasters are assumed to be inevitable and death foreordained. It is presumed that such things are to overtake man at some specific prearranged moment. But these notions cannot be reconciled to the fact that God's plan for His ideas includes eternal life. In fact, God is Life, infinite right activity, whose ever-presence annihilates any belief in inactivity, overactivity, or diseased activity. Man is the image of this active, vital, correct, healthful, ever-living, all-powerful Life, and there is no blemish in this perfect image. Therefore, any evidence of evil or decay, not being the emanation of Life, has no vitality or life to keep it going. Evil has no power to give itself continuity, nothing by which to maintain itself; and the Life which man reflects does support, uphold, and guarantee man's uninterrupted harmony and health.
Life is that infinite activity of good which denies all sense of the activity of evil. This Life is reflected by man; that is, the real, spiritual man is the expression of Life, of God's complete fullness and abundance. Blindness, deafness, paralysis, pain, decay, death, lack of any sort, never had a foothold in Life; and, therefore, these false beliefs are not real. The understanding of God as revealed in Christian Science and utilized in Christian Science treatment destroys them and reveals the perfect man of God's creating.
You will find one basic, one fundamental theme running like a silver thread through Science and Health from beginning to end. It is expressed in these words from page 525: "In the Gospel of John, it is declared that all things were made through the Word of God, 'and without Him [the logos, or word] was not anything made that was made.' Everything good or worthy, God made. Whatever is valueless or baneful, He did not make, — hence its unreality. In the Science of Genesis we read that He saw everything which He had made, 'and, behold, it was very good.'"
Thus we see that it was from the basis of Bible truth, that Mrs. Eddy gained the understanding of God that discards discord and reveals good as the only reality. She discovered that the mortal, material universe is not the reality of being. She found that by beginning with an understanding of God as the only creative cause she was able to behold in divine Science the perfect, spiritual man. With such prayerful, corrective reasoning she proved it possible to eliminate all manner of sickness and other inharmony.
Suppose you live in a community where many seem half asleep to their duty to help mankind. We must never forget that if we are accepting apathy and indifference as real and as being expressed by our co-workers in church, in business, or in governmental affairs at home or abroad, we need to awaken to the fact that man is God's idea and that all of God's ideas express the one ever-active Mind.
Stoppage, indifference, and inability are not qualities of Mind and could not be manifested by Mind's ideas. Expect to see love, harmony, co-operation, peace, expressed where you are. If there seems to be disunity, fear, obstructionism, and apathy at home, in business, or in church, we are only being confronted with the same evils that claim to be operating in world affairs.
Once a sales manager said to me, "No wonder we aren't getting anywhere with such a bunch of sleepy dummies in our sales force," The answer, of course, was to lift his thought above dumbness and apathy by awakening him to see that these evils are not actually attached to anyone and that his business could manifest only what he believed about it. The best awakening we can foster in our own environment will come through our prayerful, scientific thinking — our sincere effort to see the divine Mind expressed everywhere.
Each day brings us blessings, but as we look back over years of study of the Bible and Science and Health, do we not often wonder why our spiritual growth has not been more rapid? But with this thought comes also the comforting assurance that our progress will never cease, that each hour is a talent which must be utilized fully if we are to maintain our gain and thus be fitted to help others and do our part in correcting world inharmony. Sometimes ask yourself, Am I really interested in the other fellow? Do I actually desire to see harmony, peace, health, abundance of all good, manifested in the experience of my neighbor? The divine plan of infinite good never excludes anyone. The Bible tells us that God is no respecter of persons. Love's giving is impartial for everyone everywhere. To be a true humanitarian, we must cultivate loving our fellow man, and we must sincerely desire to share with others the good God is giving us.
One individual in any business, church, or other organization who is thoroughly alert to the facts about God and the real man can awaken the others by his example. Such uplifted spiritual understanding will result in the healing of collective discord.
It is vital to expand our thought to the good we are all capable of doing — to the good we can do for mankind, even when we are working for individuals or just for ourselves. When we down apathy, deadness, fear, and confusion for ourselves or other individuals, we are taking a vital step in eliminating these deniers of God's allness which present themselves in world affairs. We are helping the world situation immeasurably here today because all of us are realizing that the real man could not be governed or influenced by a stagnant, selfish, malicious, greedy mind. All of God's ideas are under the constant and complete control of Principle — the law of God — and all express supreme Mind, which is Love. We must not dissipate our energies through futile criticism of each other. Petty differences of opinion must not be allowed to cloud our vision. Denouncing individuals for their inefficiency, stupidity, or selfishness makes such discords seem true; but separating these erroneous beliefs from person and then annihilating the evils completely by understanding that they are not God-created and therefore are not real, is the scientific way.
It is true that the real man is the individualized expression or manifestation of God. God is constantly expressing Himself through man. Godless, materialistic teaching would attempt to arrest our normal development and deprive us of our true individuality as children of God by saying that the collective state is above the individual. Such teaching opposes Christianity and freedom and leads to slavery.
To end world turmoil may seem to be an insurmountable task, but it can be done through awakened and spiritualized reasoning, which begins by declaring and understanding that God, Spirit, made spiritual man to be His expression. We must realize that any teaching which depicts individuals as unimportant and in bondage to material law fails to recognize the true identity and the individual importance of man. The noblest work of God does not live to die, and spiritual man can never be deprived of his eternal individuality by any doctrine or theory which denies man's heritage as the son of God. Our assignment is to know that the man of God's creating cannot be deprived of his individuality by any occult or mesmeric system of mortal thought, for man is governed wholly by the divine Mind — is subject only to Principle and its law of eternal good.
While it seems necessary, as a temporary expedient, to meet aggressive military might by preserving our national defenses, the victory will be won when the Christian world gains an awareness of the nature of the opposing enemy. The enemy is not a nation or an ism, but only an illusion of the carnal mind, which the Bible tells us is always at war with Spirit, divine Mind. By acknowledging Principle as the only source of law, by knowing that divine law cannot be destroyed by aggressive materialism, that which seems to be a tremendous effort of mortal mind to stifle individual freedom and self-government will be proved powerless.
In her Message to The Mother Church for 1901, Mrs. Eddy asks the question on page 5, "Do Christian Scientists believe in personality?" She replies, "They do, but their personality is defined spiritually, not materially — by Mind, not by matter." As the forever expression of the divine Mind, maintain your spiritual individuality. Never assume that your contribution to world-wide peace or church harmony is unimportant. Such a sluggish state of thought leads to the feeling that others can do all the necessary work to establish universal peace. Do not relinquish your God-given privilege of doing your part in maintaining harmony. The active, corrective thinking of every man, woman, and child is needed in home, church, business, civic, and international affairs. The mental apathy which reasons that others are doing all that is needed would attempt to rob you of your most valuable asset — your own ability to express the divine Mind, to think spiritually for yourself.
Let us keep these inspiring words from Proverbs before our thought; they are both admonition and promise: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" (Prov. 3:5,6).
How safely we may trust in Mind, the only real intelligence — Mind which is all-knowing and always rightly active. How futile would be trust in mortal mind, which actually has no source from which to derive intelligence or power. "In all thy ways" — at home, in business, in church work, in constructive thinking for mankind, in doing whatever Love has given you to do — acknowledge Spirit as your strength. No power or intelligence comes from any source but Principle. Acknowledge yourself to be of divine origin. You possess by reflection adequate ability, and it is always sufficient to meet today's needs. Acknowledge Love as the giver, the source which imparts all wisdom and right ideas. It is thus that you may give a good account of your stewardship.
Mrs. Eddy has written, "Let Christian Science, instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence discord with harmony" (Science and Health, p. 495). It is through Christian Science, God's law, that we gain the spiritual understanding that silences discord with harmony. Make no mistake about it, my friends; it is Christian Science that heals. It is the Christ which comes to the thought of the practitioner and patient, but both must receive — humbly accept — the good which divine Love is constantly imparting.
Is this disordered bodily function which appears painful and very real to human thought going to mesmerize us into believing that it is something real which needs to be removed? No, we are going to say with Christ Jesus, Get thee behind me, I am not going to believe in two creators, two laws. Evil has never been maintained, never had any history. Could matter be created? Can material growths or conditions become more real? No, it is idolatry to believe that evil has a creator. God made all.
Could muscles become weakened, inactive, powerless? Could Mind stop knowing and become paralyzed? Could a material change through operation or manipulation correct what mortal mind creates and sanctions? No, matter cannot manifest anything. Matter has never been sick, or even well. Matter was never made; it has no mind to father it.
What are we doing with such spiritual reasoning? We are doing what Christian Science teaches us to do — that is, we are reasoning from cause to effect, from God to perfect man. We are beginning with an understanding of God as divine Mind, and we are absolutely sure that there is not, has not been, and will not be an effect from any other cause or mind.
We learn through experience in Christian Science that it is possible to render harmless the so-called laws of materia medica and mortal mind which we have heard about. We learn also that we can gain sure protection from generally accepted beliefs we have never heard of, by instructing our thought in spiritual reality through our study of the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings.
May I direct my remarks for the next minute or two to the Christian Scientists in the audience? Much is expected of us. While it seems entirely illogical to judge Christian Science, the law of God, by the way Christian Scientists utilize and abide by this law, nevertheless it is true that our conduct either helps or hinders the progress of Christian Science. This may sound like a rather drastic statement, but Mrs. Eddy says just this in these words: "The unprecedented progress of Christian Science is proverbial, and we cannot be too grateful nor too humble for this, inasmuch as our daily lives serve to enhance or to stay its glory" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 134).
A number of articles have appeared in popular magazines during the last few years explaining to the public many of the things expected of Christian Scientists. If we as Christian Scientists violate the rules of our religion, we harm ourselves and our loved Cause as well.
Therefore, when we are tempted to go along with the crowd, or to argue that, if done in moderation, it is all right to indulge a false appetite, let us realize that we may avoid delaying the progress of mankind by doing our best to let our light shine in terms of the teachings of Christian Science. The instruction given us in our textbook came to Mrs. Eddy through divine revelation, and we should expect to obey the rules if we wish to succeed in practicing them.
I have been endeavoring to bring out the simplicity of spiritual healing as taught in Christian Science. I should like to read a letter received from a mother I know very well: "One afternoon when I was working in the basement, the pal of our eleven-year-old boy said our boy had fallen and could not walk. So he had brought him home in his wagon. I did not run out — I walked, knowing that he was God's child and that there are no accidents in God's kingdom. I asked him to come in, and he hopped in on one foot, up the steps and into the house, without assistance.
"This boy likes examples with numbers, so I said, 'If someone told me that you were twenty-two, I'd say, "That's a lie, and I can't believe it," because you are really eleven. Now here's someone who wants to tell me that you fell and can't walk and that something hurts. That's a lie too. I can't believe that, because you're God's child.' With that, I went on and finished my work.
"For supper, he hopped about twenty feet into the kitchen alone, ate a good meal and hopped to the other room. While he was there, the mother of the young pal telephoned. She felt that he had pulled some ligaments in his leg and said that as they were helping him into the wagon, he was perspiring profusely, as though in great pain. She asked if I had looked at his leg. I told her I hadn't. But I said that he ate a good meal and was happy and that I was sure he was all right. I thanked her for calling, and right after that our boy stood in the doorway on both feet and said, 'See, I'm not believing any lies either.' Half an hour later when his pal called for him, he ran out and played as usual. There were no aftereffects. The healing was complete."
In Isaiah we read (52:7), "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" What thoughtful student of the Bible can read this expression of gratitude which foretold the coming of Christ Jesus and not be grateful for the fact that when the path seems steep and discords real, there is a way of salvation available? How are we to gain and maintain the spiritual understanding that enables us to demonstrate that God is supreme and that sin, sickness, and death have no actual dwelling place? The answer has been published — the basis of peace and salvation was brought to mankind by Christ Jesus and was discovered and then published in this age by Mary Baker Eddy. The blessings to mankind of having the way of salvation published could not be measured. We learn that Christian Science came as a divine revelation to Mrs. Eddy. Just as John wrote down, on the Isle of Patmos, what God had revealed to him, so she wrote down the revelation of God's law of redemption and healing. Had she failed to write down and then publish what she had discovered, we would not now be having the privilege of solving human problems through spiritual enlightenment alone.
Many Christian Scientists, and others, have read the book "Mary Baker Eddy: A Life Size Portrait," written by Dr. Lyman P. Powell, an Episcopal clergyman. Anyone who has not read this instructive biography will find it absorbingly interesting. In an unpublished manuscript written later, Dr. Powell wrote the following: "Surely the time has come for us Christians of other folds to withhold superficial judgment of a movement which gives every evidence of thriving when many other organizations are discouraged, and also for us to bring an end to petty criticism of its Leader, and to set ourselves to learn how and why Christian Science still under her Manual direction does appear to be solving certain problems elsewhere causing bewilderment and dismay."
In speaking of this biography, Dr. Albert Shaw, for many years editor of Review of Reviews, wrote, "This volume [Mary Baker Eddy: A Life Size Portrait] has always seemed to me a profound one in its tempered wisdom, as it deals with the beginnings of a great institutional movement that has long since outlived the hasty and ill-judged criticisms of 20 or 30 years ago."
More and more, as this leaven of Truth is accepted and acknowledged by mankind as the sure way of salvation from human bondage, will gratitude be felt by all for the unselfed perseverance of the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. She did not stop short of her goal. She published the final and complete revelation; she completed the task which was given her to do.
No one who has learned the way in Christian Science, who has been helped and healed, and who has been able through the teachings of Christian Science to heal others, can doubt that Christian Science is God's law in operation — the divine plan for man.
I shall close with these words from page 187 of Mrs. Eddy's book "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany": "May the divine light of Christian Science that lighteth every enlightened thought illumine your faith and understanding, exclude all darkness or doubt, and signal the perfect path wherein to walk, the perfect Principle whereby to demonstrate the perfect man and the perfect law of God."
[Delivered April 18, 1952, at Convention Hall in Tulsa, Oklahoma, under the auspices of Third Church of Christ, Scientist, Tulsa, and published in The West Tulsa News May 1, 1952. The story from Japan related at the beginning of the lecture is told by Clarence W. Hall, for some time senior editor at Reader's Digest, in "What I Found at Shimmabuke," an undated leaflet published by The American Bible Society, and in The Record of the American Bible Society, Vol. 95, No. 3, p. 58, April 1950.]