Will B. Davis, C.S., of Chicago, Illinois
Member of the Board of Lectureship of The
Mother Church,
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts
Will B. Davis, C.S., of Chicago, Illinois, lectured on "Christian Science: What It Is and How It Heals," Tuesday evening in the Church edifice, College and 62nd Street, under the auspices of Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist. Mr. Davis is a member of the Board of Lectureship of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass. The lecturer was introduced by Mrs. Buena Lobdell. His lecture follows substantially as it was given.
In this representative audience are many who have been earnest students of Christian Science for a long period, many others who started the study more recently, and some, perhaps, have not before attended a Christian Science lecture. Usually when people take up the study of Christian Science they are searching for release from pain or sorrow, little dreaming that the underlying Principle of Christian Science is regeneration through a clearer concept of God and His laws. Two questions come naturally to the beginner:
(1) What is Christian Science?
(2) How does Christian Science accomplish its healing work?
I am sure there are some basic fundamentals upon which we can all agree. For example, is it not true that practically everyone in this audience is willing to accept the conclusion that there is, there must be, a creative intelligence which made and controls the universe including man? This supreme intelligence or Mind we all no doubt are willing to call God. We cannot conceive of human mind or power as being capable of creating the universe, holding the earth in its orbit, or maintaining the life and beauty expressed in what we have been taught to call nature. So we can agree that God is not a person: He is infinite intelligence or Mind, the only possible cause, or creator.
Christian Science is the infallible law of God, demonstrating the rule of spiritual healing which has always been available. Christ Jesus came to teach mortals how to make use of this unerring Principle, to show mankind how to rise above the ills, discords, and disasters of human living through consciousness of man's at-one-ment with infinite Spirit or Mind.
Jesus declared that his healing work was accomplished through his utilization of divine power. He said, "I can of mine own self do nothing." And again he declared, "The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." Through an understanding of the ever-presence and availability of the one omnipotent God or Father, miracles were performed by the ancient prophets; but until Jesus taught and illustrated the law of healing, through his comprehension of God as Love, only a few seemed able to utilize this divine Principle successfully in dispelling the inharmonies of human affairs.
A careful perusal of the record in the New Testament of Jesus' healing work reveals the fact that he used no drugs, no manipulation, nor material hygiene, though he healed all manner of diseases and raised the dead. His disciples, obedient to the teaching of Jesus, were successful in healing, and later many of the early Christians who had never seen the human Jesus, notably the Apostle Paul, did many mighty works in the name of the Master.
The scientific method employed by Jesus is recorded in the inspired writings of the Bible, a fact which becomes more and more evident after the way has been pointed out; but this was not discovered until 1866. It was then that Mary Baker Eddy, after a lifetime of faithful Bible study and communion with God, discovered the divine laws of healing which Christ Jesus utilized. She named her discovery Christian Science, and, in the years which followed, spent in listening for divine revelation, she wrote down, and thereby made easily available to all, the scientific rules of Christian healing. Her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" contains the complete statement of Christian Science.
It was really not so very long ago that Christian Science became available through its Discoverer and Founder, Mrs. Eddy. In a comparatively short space of time it has been firmly established nearly all over the world as a workable system.
To some, the assertion that Christian Science employs the same law or rule of healing used by our great Master may seem presumptuous. The reason we reverently and humbly make this claim is that we ourselves have felt the healing power of the Christ in our own human experiences.
Receptivity and humility were requisite in Jesus' time as they are today. The record of his healing work shows plainly that he recognized these qualities in those who came to him for help. To illustrate: when Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogues, came to Jesus, we read that he fell at the feet of Jesus "and besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live."
Jesus responded at once by starting to go with Jairus, but he was delayed by the throng. Soon one came from the ruler of the synagogue's home with the report that the little twelve-year-old girl had died and so it would not be necessary to trouble the Master further. Jesus immediately gave the father this reassuring and healing admonition, "Be not afraid, only believe." When they reached the house, it is related in this same chapter, Jesus, undaunted by the grief and skepticism of those who had gathered there, "took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, "Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked. . . . And they were astonished with a great astonishment."
The words, "Be not afraid," which Jesus used to counteract instantly the belief of death remind me of Mrs. Eddy's instruction on page 411 of Science and Health: "Always begin your treatment by allaying the fear of patients. Silently reassure them as to their exemption from disease and danger. Watch the result of this simple rule of Christian Science, and you will find that it alleviates the symptoms of every disease. If you succeed in wholly removing the fear, your patient is healed."
Anyone who is an alert Bible scholar may learn through an attentive examination of our textbook that the rules of healing given by Mrs. Eddy were obtained through a close study of the Bible and particularly of the healing works of Jesus.
If we are to be at one with God we must learn how to follow in the footsteps of the humble Nazarene. We must be obedient to Paul's admonition, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." How plainly the beloved apostle has declared here that God is not a person, but supreme intelligence, or Mind, and that our need is to recognize our close communion, or at-one-ment, with the Mind which is God.
We can discern through Paul's inspired instruction why Mrs. Eddy teaches us to make a clear differentiation between Jesus the human man and the Christ or Truth which Jesus expressed. The Christ-consciousness may be entertained by you and me, and it is through allowing the Christ to enter human consciousness that healing is accomplished through Christian Science.
And now I am going to give you a very interesting and practical definition of Christian Science — not my own words, but a declaration made by its Discoverer and Founder. On page 160 of her book "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany," Mrs. Eddy writes: "To live so as to keep human consciousness in constant relation with the divine, the spiritual, and the eternal, is to individualize infinite power; and this is Christian Science."
Christian Science then is a method of living; it is that law of God which enables us so to live our human lives that we may express the Christ and thus demonstrate divine power in individual human experience. There is a requirement in the words I have quoted which cannot be overlooked. A way of living must be found that will enable us to "keep human consciousness in constant relation with the divine."
Someone may be thinking that is a very big assignment; and others may be saying to themselves that no one could keep thought in constant rapport or communion with the infinite intelligence. But it must be possible, even if we learn to do it only by degrees. We have received the same admonition in Paul's words, "Pray without ceasing."
Perhaps we need to revise our concept of true prayer, and to this end I recommend that you study once again, no matter how well you may know it now, the first chapter in Science and Health, entitled "Prayer." Many have been healed of disease, of lack, and of other discords, when they have approached the question of how to pray aright, through the study of these God-inspired pages.
We learn that true prayer is a state of uplifted spiritual thought and not merely a request for more material abundance. As we gain, through true knowing, a consciousness of God's ever-present omnipotence, we are praying. When we realize that divine Love is constantly imparting unlimited, inexhaustible good for the benefit of His spiritual creation, we cannot logically ask for more.
We are praying when we understand that the complete creation of Spirit must be spiritual; that spiritual man, the image and likeness of infinite Spirit, must be as complete and perfect as his Maker. We see the folly of asking to be supplied by depriving others when we learn that God's goodness is much more abundant than the air we breathe and that it is not necessary to impoverish others in order to have all we shall ever need. The purest prayer beholds all of God's children as completely supplied and perfect and well.
Let me quote from page 11 of our
textbook: "Prayer cannot change the unalterable Truth, nor can prayer
alone give us an understanding of Truth; but prayer, coupled with a fervent
habitual desire to know and do the will of God, will bring us into all Truth.
Such a desire has little need of audible expression. It is best expressed in
thought and in life." The right desire which is prayer, to be constant,
that is, "without ceasing," must become "habitual," and
Christian Science gives us practical help along this line, since it is
demonstrable.
In the round of daily human affairs in the home and in business, one may easily become so engrossed in the day's work that he indeed seems far from reaching out habitually for spiritual ideas. Mrs. Eddy with God-bestowing wisdom has provided the means through which to uplift and clarify thought at all times. Not only did she give us the Bible Lesson-Sermons for daily study, but she arranged to have her various writings published in such convenient small volumes that they may be kept ever at hand.
Carry one of these books with you during the day, and you will find opportunity to refer to it often. Even a sentence read and understood will spiritualize thought, and inasmuch as all activity is primarily mental this uplifted thought will be practically made manifest in daily affairs. Thought which is thus kept in active contact with the one source of all right ideas is fearless, alert, honest, clear, unselfish and such wholesome thinking put into action in daily life is true success.
Here let us recall that vital definition of Christian Science from "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany": "To live so as to keep human consciousness in constant relation with the divine, the spiritual, and the eternal, is to individualize infinite power; and this is Christian Science."
Remember that the Christ is the gift of God which makes it possible for all of us to comprehend humanly and to live the goodness, perfection, and orderliness of divine Principle, or God, and thereby to put off the inharmonious beliefs which seem to be connected with a bodily state of human existence. Jesus expressed the Christ so scientifically and completely that he was able to pray, or to commune with the divine Mind, constantly; and in the proportion that we, as Christian Scientists, intelligently utilize the same law or rule of healing which he employed shall we experience harmony, adequate supply, health, and happiness in our daily lives.
In the discussion so far we have approached the answer to the second phase of our subject, namely: "How does Christian Science heal?" In other words, just what is the method employed by Christian Scientists in healing all manner of discord, lack, and disease? A complete answer to this question cannot be given in a short lecture. In replying to a very similar question, Mrs. Eddy declares (Science and Health, p. 493), "A full answer to the above question involves teaching, which enables the healer to demonstrate and prove for himself the Principle and rule of Christian Science or metaphysical healing." Thorough, constant study of Science and Health and Mrs. Eddy's other writings not only teaches us how Christian Science heals, but it will enable any sincere student to heal himself and others.
The first requirement in the healing activity is to learn the true nature of God. We have agreed together that God is supreme intelligence or Mind, the only possible creative power or cause. In the Glossary of Science and Health (p. 587) we find this definition: "God. The great I am; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence." On page 465 of our textbook Mrs. Eddy tells us that the seven synonyms for God which she uses in the definition just quoted are "intended to express the nature, essence, and wholeness of Deity." Christian Scientists find inspiration, joy, and healing through learning more of God's wholeness or completeness, as they prayerfully consider these synonymous terms.
From a background of a constantly expanding appreciation of God's ever-present omnipotence and infinite love, we learn to heal through Christian Science. We learn to heal as we realize that the spiritual man of God's creating must be as perfect as his creator.
Let us consider together the first sentence in Mrs. Eddy's definition of man, to be found on page 475 of our textbook: "Man is not matter; he is not made up of brain, blood, bones, and other material elements." How completely this statement denies all the evidence of the material senses! No thinking person could read such a revolutionary declaration without wishing to learn on what authority it could be made.
The next sentence in the definition gives the answer: "The Scriptures inform us that man is made in the image and likeness of God." Mrs. Eddy is referring to the first chapter of Genesis, where we receive this information: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. . . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. . . . And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Spiritual man, the exact likeness of infinite Spirit, must express the goodness, the perfection, of his creative Principle or Father.
And now let me read the first few sentences from Mrs. Eddy's answer to the question, "What is man?" "Man is not matter; he is not made up of brain, blood, bones, and other material elements. The Scriptures inform us that man is made in the image and likeness of God. Matter is not that likeness. The likeness of Spirit cannot be so unlike Spirit. Man is spiritual and perfect; and because he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so understood in Christian Science. Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique" (Science and Health, p. 475)
But what of this mortal body which we have been accustomed to think of as man? Mrs. Eddy calls this material sense of things the Adam-dream, and she bases this vitally important conclusion on the second account of creation in Genesis, which begins: "But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." An entirely different concept of man, isn't it? Twice each year we have a Bible Lesson-Sermon entitled, "Adam and Fallen Man," which exposes the false material view of man and brings to light the real, spiritual, perfect man of Spirit's creating. It is in the proportion that we are able to comprehend man's true spiritual selfhood that we heal through Christian Science.
In two instructive and clear sentences much loved and often used by Christian Scientists, Mrs. Eddy tells us just how Jesus healed: "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick" (Science and Health, pp. 476, 477). Humbly and reverently are we as Christian Scientists striving to learn to heal as Jesus healed. We are seeking daily to gain a fuller, more comprehensive understanding of God in order that we may learn to view man as he is. How refreshing it is to learn that man is not matter and how reassuring to realize that matter cannot govern.
How could nonintelligent matter, whether it is called a body or a stone, control the harmony, health, and destiny of spiritual man? No, there is no intelligence in matter, nor has matter ever been sick or in pain. The illusion of sickness in matter is only an erroneous, mesmeric state of human thought. How can we waken from this illusion? By becoming conscious of reality, of Spirit and Spirit's perfect idea, the real man.
An illusion is a mental mistake, not a physical condition; so not one thing needs to be done to matter to instantly correct what seems to be a disease in matter. When we become conscious that, in reality, "man is idea, the image, of Love," a spiritual being, not a matter organism, we perceive our actual or real selfhood. God's idea does not have a separate mind of his own; he manifests the quality of the divine Mind.
The physical evidence of sickness becomes much less alarming when we realize that what appears to be discordant matter is only mistaken mortal thinking. The counterfeit of the divine Mind the so-called mortal, material mentality, which is spoken of as the carnal mind in the Bible, may appear to be creative and powerful; but the spiritual fact remains that this opposing mind is not real. The divine Mind alone creates and governs spiritual man.
This statement reminds me to refer to another definition of Christian Science. It is found on page 482 of Science and Health: "Christian Science is the law of Truth, which heals the sick on the basis of the one Mind or God. It can heal in no other way, since the human, mortal mind so-called is not a healer, but causes the belief in disease."
Here let me give you a simple illustration of this orderly healing procedure. It is the experience of a man who limped into a Christian Science practitioner's office one morning and reported that he had an infected and inflamed toe. The practitioner explained that the discomfort could not be in his toe, because matter has no sensation; and that therefore the inharmony must be entirely in mortal thought. He asked the patient to begin at once to rejoice in the understanding that the pain was only in the human mind, not in matter, and obviously not in the divine Mind. The patient quickly agreed, and his attention was called to Mrs. Eddy's promise of immediate healing through this very process of thought.
"It breaks the dream of disease," she declares, "to understand that sickness is formed by the human mind, not by matter nor by the divine Mind" (Science and Health, p. 396). As he left the practitioner's office the patient found himself sincerely grateful for his enlightened understanding. It had become clearly evident to him that, in reality, there is no mortal mind which could cause material inflammation or perpetuate inharmony. He had walked only a short distance before the dream was broken and permanent freedom from the pain was manifested.
The error of believing in two minds, two kinds of substance, two powers, of calling God omnipotent and still believing in another power, must be recognized to be sin and our false material views forsaken. We forsake the false by accepting the true. A clear recognition of the one all-powerful Mind, and of the spiritual man's relationship to God, is essential. God is Soul, the only real consciousness. The reflection of Soul, God's man, could not know evil, for there is no evil in the divine consciousness. We reach the conclusion that, in reality, the only true thoughts are spiritual ideas and the only true creation must be spiritual and also perfect.
It seems often to take a rough jolt, a rude awakening, and a sense of suffering to bring the keen desire for spiritual things which replaces a lethargic, materialistic state of thought with an alert, teachable, spiritual consciousness. But this need not be so. Once a young woman asked me, "Do I have to suffer to advance as a Christian Scientist?" And she explained that she had observed that most Christian Scientists who have made outstanding progress have become strong through battling some serious problem. But, as has just been said, this is not the only way of progress for the Christian Scientist. One of the most impressive features of Christian Science is that it is preventive as well as curative. It enables the student to maintain as well as to gain harmony.
How full of meaning and how applicable to us is the parable of the talents which Jesus used in teaching his disciples. You will recall that three servants were given talents by their employer just before he departed on a journey. The first, who received five talents, a considerable sum of money, traded with them and had ten talents to return to his employer. The second servant did the same with the two talents given him, and had four talents to return to his employer. But the servant who received only one talent did not view it as an opportunity. We are told that he hid it in the earth, and when his employer returned he was deprived even of that one talent.
In every department of life we learn that we must accept the opportunity at hand and when one task has been well done it brings the next opportunity. And so it is with the study of Christian Science; as we utilize the occasions for spiritual regeneration which are immediately available, the next orderly step in the divine plan of unfolding good will present itself.
The talent may be an available half hour or even a few minutes which may be spent in a Christian Science Reading Room; or the opportunity of attending the Sunday services in a Christian Science church, or the Wednesday meetings, where testimonies of healing are given. Mrs. Eddy provided for us many avenues for spiritual growth; but the talent must be used, the blessings accepted, if we expect results.
On page 7 of "Unity of Good" Mrs. Eddy makes a declaration which deserves our thoughtful attention. She writes, "An acknowledgment of the perfection of the infinite Unseen confers a power nothing else can." The testimonies given in Christian Science churches acknowledge "the perfection of the infinite Unseen." So these Wednesday meetings are a powerful healing agency — available in the midst of busy human living.
One's spiritual growth is necessarily an individual demonstration, as was so graphically illustrated by the parable of the virgins who were not able to go into the wedding at the midnight hour because they had failed to replenish the oil in their lamps.
A friend of mine was once suffering from a condition called arthritis. Progress seemed slow and one morning he telephoned a Christian Science practitioner to ask for treatment. After hearing his story the practitioner asked casually how long my friend had been interested in Christian Science, and was told it had been about fifteen years. "Fine," replied the practitioner, "it should be easy to help you at once."
For the next two days the report was not favorable, so the practitioner decided to call on my friend. He found him in a large easy chair with his leg stretched out on an overstuffed footstool, and he was reading a current fiction magazine. As the conversation progressed, reference was made to the Bible Lesson-Sermon for that week. It was Wednesday, but the patient explained that he had not formed the habit of studying the Lesson-Sermon every day. "I aim to read it over once during the week," he continued, "and I haven't gotten around to it so far this week."
He was then asked whether he regularly studied Science and Health, and Mrs. Eddy's other writings, but replied, "No, I am not much of a hand to study; my wife does most of that; but," he added, "I attend church quite regularly." It was explained to him that there must be a mental awakening, and he soon saw the necessity for spiritual regeneration.
For several days the treatment continued and each day my friend expressed sincere gratitude for his awakening. He was enjoying the entire lesson every day. He was now studying "Miscellaneous Writings" and our periodicals. In fact he remarked that he had not even had time to finish the story he had been reading in that magazine. But there was no perceptible improvement in the physical condition.
Then on the eleventh day, after receiving another spontaneous report concerning the joy he was finding in the regular study, the practitioner asked him why he was doing all this energetic study, and concluded, "I hope you are not trying to heal yourself." "I should say I am," was the immediate response.
It was explained that we do not attempt to actually remove troubles or heal diseases through our work in Christian Science, even though such discords seem very real; but, rather, we endeavor to rise to a consciousness of God's unvarying goodness and of the present perfection of spiritual man as His complete expression. Mrs. Eddy vigorously instructs us on this point in these words: "The great spiritual fact must be brought out that man is, not shall be, perfect and immortal" (Science and Health, p 428).
My friend grasped the significance of this fundamental feature of scientific Mind-healing and within ten minutes was out of the chair and walking around the house. The next morning he went back to his place of business entirely well.
The inspiration and enlightenment which come from accepting the benefits of all the opportunities for spiritual refreshment provided for us through consistent study of Christian Science, and through our church activities, express themselves in all our human affairs.
It now seems very strange to me that I once objected to hearing Christian Scientists express wholehearted and loving appreciation for Mrs. Eddy's life and work.
When one realizes the reason for this gratitude, and has himself benefited by the unselfed love of our Leader and her tireless effort in founding and establishing the Cause of Christian Science, it seems fitting indeed that we should openly acknowledge to others the deep gratitude we feel for her fulfillment of her glorious mission.
In her book "Pulpit and Press" Mrs. Eddy has reprinted some newspaper clippings. Among these is one which appeared in a Chicago newspaper in December, 1894, and concerns the event which led to the discovery of Christian Science. It reads (p. 34): "In 1866, while living in Lynn, Mass., Mrs. Eddy (then Mrs. Glover) met with a severe accident, and her case was pronounced hopeless by the physicians. There came a Sunday morning when her pastor came to bid her good-by before proceeding to his morning service, as there was no probability that she would be alive at its close. During this time she suddenly became aware of a divine illumination and ministration. She requested those with her to withdraw, and reluctantly they did so, believing her delirious. Soon, to their bewilderment and fright, she walked into the adjoining room, 'and they thought I had died, and that it was my apparition,' she said. . . . From that hour dated her conviction of the Principle of divine healing, and that it is as true to-day as it was in the days when Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth."
Our Leader had always depended on the Bible as her guide and source of inspiration; and on that memorable Sunday morning she caught a glimpse of the method Christ Jesus used. Through this healing Mrs. Eddy began living a happier, freer, more abundant human life; she listened to the divine demand to share her new-found blessings with all mankind.
A Christian Scientist once expressed the thought to me that Mrs. Eddy was obliged to do what she did, that she was only carrying out her God-ordained mission in laboring to establish Christian Science on a spiritual, permanent foundation. This friend assumed that it is not logical for Christian Scientists to express so much gratitude for her life and work. It is true that Mrs. Eddy's discovery came as the fulfillment of our Master's prophecy that the Comforter would come, but our Leader did not shirk her responsibility. She joyously accepted her God-appointed task to make Christian Science universally available.
My friends, do all of us accept our assignment to express the Christ in our daily human activities, to let our light so shine that all may be benefited; or are we putting off until a more favorable time the opportunity of serving the Cause of Christian Science now?
We honor and revere Mrs. Eddy because she so lived her human life that she proved that the scientific healing system employed by Jesus may be successfully utilized by any earnest student.
Having been blessed through Mrs.
Eddy's willingness to bear the scorn and criticism of the world and her
persistence in carrying on until she had completely finished her human task,
the student of Christian Science would be unappreciative indeed if he failed to
acknowledge with gratitude our Leader's courageous, fruitful, thoroughly
unselfish efforts for the good of men and women everywhere.
Throughout her writings there is evidence of Mrs. Eddy's sincere desire to awaken her students to the possibility of bringing permanent peace to a troubled world. A study of pages 223 through 227 of Science and Health on the part of Christian Scientists these days will enable us to make a valuable contribution toward the healing of the nations. It is on page 226, in speaking of gaining "universal freedom," that Mrs. Eddy says "Freedom [is to] be won not through human warfare, not with bayonet and blood, but through Christ's divine Science."
In view of the unprecedented belief of world chaos, we all have ample opportunity to practice Christian Science unselfishly for the benefit of men and women all over the world. Instead of being appalled at the enormity of the task, let us recall that in every unselfish effort we are allied to omnipotence. As we work for all mankind we need to watch carefully lest we accept the news of error as something true, as a condition which is actually capable of perpetuating itself. Making evil real could not heal it.
How easily Jesus separated his real selfhood from the material concept of man is shown in such remarks as "I and my Father are one." Just as easily did he separate the discord which seemed to be attached to a patient, from the real man. When he found that "Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever," he separated the fever from body or person, for the Bible records, "And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them." Jesus did not rebuke the person, but the fear, expressed as fever. He knew the powerlessness and unreality of the belief, and the patient was instantaneously healed.
A recent incident shows how quickly children grasp the fundamental importance of rebuking the discord, and not the person. A friend of mine was talking with his elder daughter in an endeavor to help her rise above an inharmonious condition, when her four-year-old sister appeared on the scene. The younger child was told to run along, as they were working out a problem, but she delayed just long enough to say: "Error, are you around here again? You can just scram." Even at this early age it was perfectly natural for this youngster to separate the error from person, and then dismiss it.
In your universal healing work you will be helped I am sure by considering the following quotation from page 91 of Science and Health: "The Revelator tells us of 'a new heaven and a new earth.' Have you ever pictured this heaven and earth, inhabited by beings under the control of supreme wisdom?"
What a searching question our Leader has asked us, and what an assignment she has given! It is our glorious privilege to realize that the universe is filled completely with God's ideas, and that every one of these ideas is controlled by the all-powerful, all-knowing Mind, which is God.
It is not only important for us to behold the perfect man, as far as our own well-being is concerned, but let us learn to realize that sickness, discord, lack, pain, fear, and the like have never been attached to any idea in the kingdom of heaven, where God's man dwells. Because God's ideas are controlled by "supreme wisdom" they are now expressing health, harmony, joy, peace, and abundance in unlimited measure. Because God is Life, eternal right activity, God's children can never lose this harmonious state of being.
It is human nature that is being renovated and uplifted through the instruction of Christian Science, teaching of God as Principle, the only law; of God as Love, the infinite Giver, too pure to impart evil or to behold it; of God as Truth, the unerring Father-Mother; of God as Mind, the supreme intelligence, all-knowing to be sure, but conscious only of good.
Mrs. Eddy beautifully sums up these conclusions in the following reassuring words from "Unity of Good" (p. 6): "Sooner or later the whole human race will learn that, in proportion as the spotless selfhood of God is understood, human nature will be renovated, and man will receive a higher selfhood, derived from God, and the redemption of mortals from sin, sickness, and death be established on everlasting foundations."
To each of us individually our Leader says that we need not wait indefinitely for the fulfillment of this promise, for she declares in our textbook (p. 264): "When we learn the way in Christian Science and recognize man's spiritual being, we shall behold and understand God's creation, — all the glories of earth and heaven and man."
[Delivered Sept. 12, 1944, at Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist, College and 62nd Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, and published in The Marion County Mail of Indianapolis, Sept. 15, 1944.]