Miscellaneous Writings, 1883-1896 Part 8

power to cast out the disease. The Founder of Chris- tian Science teaches her students that they must possess the spirit of Truth and Love, must gain the power over sin in themselves, or they cannot be instantaneous healers. [25]

In this Christian warfare the student or pract.i.tioner has to master those elements of evil too common to other minds. If it is hate that is holding the purpose to kill his patient by mental means, it requires more divine understanding to conquer this sin than to nullify either [30]

the disease itself or the ignorance by which one unin- tentionally harms himself or another. An element of

[Page 41.]

brute-force that only the cruel and evil can send forth, is [1]

given vent in the diabolical practice of one who, having learned the power of liberated thought to do good, per- verts it, and uses it to accomplish an evil purpose. This mental malpractice would disgrace Mind-healing, were it [5]

not that G.o.d overrules it, and causes "the wrath of man"

to praise Him. It deprives those who practise it of the power to heal, and destroys their own possibility of progressing.

The honest student of Christian Science is purged [10]

through Christ, Truth, and thus is ready for victory in the enn.o.bling strife. The good fight must be fought by those who keep the faith and finish their course. Mental purgation must go on: it promotes spiritual growth, scales the mountain of human endeavor, and gains the [15]

summit in Science that otherwise could not be reached, -where the struggle with sin is forever done.

_Can all cla.s.ses of disease be healed by your method?_

We answer, Yes. Mind is the architect that builds its own idea, and produces all harmony that appears. [20]

There is no other healer in the case. If mortal mind, through the action of fear, manifests inflammation and a belief of chronic or acute disease, by removing the cause in that so-called mind the effect or disease will disappear and health will be restored; for health, _alias_ harmony, [25]

is the normal manifestation of man in Science. The divine Principle which governs the universe, including man, if demonstrated, is sufficient for all emergencies.

But the pract.i.tioner may not always prove equal to bringing out the result of the Principle that he knows to [30]

be true.

[Page 42.]

_After the change called death takes place, do we meet_ [1]

_those gone before?-or does life continue in thought only_ _as in a dream?_

Man is not annihilated, nor does he lose his ident.i.ty, by pa.s.sing through the belief called death. After the [5]

momentary belief of dying pa.s.ses from mortal mind, this mind is still in a conscious state of existence; and the in- dividual has but pa.s.sed through a moment of extreme mortal fear, to awaken with thoughts, and being, as material as before. Science and Health clearly states [10]

that spiritualization of thought is not attained by the death of the body, but by a conscious union with G.o.d. When we shall have pa.s.sed the ordeal called death, or destroyed this last enemy, and shall have come upon the same plane of conscious existence with those gone before, then we [15]

shall be able to communicate with and to recognize them.

If, before the change whereby we meet the dear de- parted, our life-work proves to have been well done, we shall not have to repeat it; but our joys and means of ad- vancing will be proportionately increased. [20]

The difference between a belief of material existence and the spiritual fact of Life is, that the former is a dream and unreal, while the latter is real and eternal. Only as we understand G.o.d, and learn that good, not evil, lives and is immortal, that immortality exists only in [25]

spiritual perfection, shall we drop our false sense of Life in sin or sense material, and recognize a better state of existence.

_Can I be treated without being present during treatment?_

Mind is not confined to limits; and nothing but our [30]

own false admissions prevent us from demonstrating this

[Page 43.]

great fact. Christian Science, recognizing the capabili- [1]

ties of Mind to act of itself, and independent of matter, enables one to heal cases without even having seen the individual,-or simply after having been made ac- quainted with the mental condition of the patient. [5]

_Do all who at present claim to be teaching Christian_ _Science, teach it correctly?_

By no means: Christian Science is not sufficiently un- derstood for that. The student of this Science who under- stands it best, is the one least likely to pour into other [10]

minds a trifling sense of it as being adequate to make safe and successful pract.i.tioners. The simple sense one gains of this Science through careful, unbiased, contemplative reading of my books, is far more advantageous to the sick and to the learner than is or can be the spurious [15]

teaching of those who are spiritually unqualified. The sad fact at this early writing is, that the letter is gained sooner than the spirit of Christian Science: time is re- quired thoroughly to qualify students for the great ordeal of this century. [20]

If one student tries to undermine another, such sinister rivalry does a vast amount of injury to the Cause. To fill one's pocket at the expense of his conscience, or to build on the downfall of others, incapacitates one to practise or teach Christian Science. The occasional tem- [25]

porary success of such an one is owing, in part, to the im- possibility for those unacquainted with the mighty Truth of _Christian_ Science to recognize, as such, the barefaced errors that are taught-and the damaging effects these leave on the practice of the learner, on the Cause, and [30]

on the health of the community.

[Page 44.]

Honest students speak the truth "according to the [1]

pattern showed to thee in the mount," and live it: these are not working for emoluments, and may profitably teach people, who are ready to investigate this subject, the rudiments of Christian Science. [5]

_Can Christian Science cure acute cases where there is_ _necessity for immediate relief, as in membranous croup?_

The remedial power of Christian Science is positive, and its application direct. It cannot fail to heal in every case of disease, when conducted by one who un- [10]

derstands this Science sufficiently to demonstrate its highest possibilities.

_If I have the toothache, and nothing stops it until I_ _have the tooth extracted, and then the pain ceases, has_ _the mind, or extracting, or both, caused the pain to_ [15]

_cease?_

What you thought was pain in the bone or nerve, could only have been a belief of pain in matter; for matter has no sensation. It was a state of mortal thought made manifest in the flesh. You call this body matter, when [20]

awake, or when asleep in a dream. That matter can re- report pain, or that mind is _in_ matter, reporting sensa- tions, is but a dream at all times. You believed that if the tooth were extracted, the pain would cease: this de- mand of mortal thought once met, your belief a.s.sumed [25]

a new form, and said, There is no more pain. When your belief in pain ceases, the pain stops; for matter has no intelligence of its own. By applying this men- tal remedy or antidote directly to your belief, you scien-

[Page 45.]

tifically prove the fact that Mind is supreme. This is not [1]

done by will-power, for that is not Science but mesmerism.

The full understanding that G.o.d is Mind, and that mat- ter is but a belief, enables you to control pain. Chris- tian Science, by means of its Principle of metaphysical [5]

healing, is able to do more than to heal a toothache; although its power to allay fear, prevent inflammation, and destroy the necessity for ether-thereby avoiding the fatal results that frequently follow the use of that drug-render this Science invaluable in the practice [10]

of dentistry.

_Can an atheist or a profane man be cured by metaphysics,_ _or Christian Science?_

The moral status of the man demands the remedy of Truth more in this than in most cases; therefore, under [15]

the deific law that supply invariably meets demand, this Science is effectual in treating moral ailments. Sin is not the master of divine Science, but _vice versa_; and when Science in a single instance decides the conflict, the patient is better both morally and physically. [20]

_If G.o.d made all that was made, and it was good, where_ _did evil originate?_

It never originated or existed as an ent.i.ty. It is but a false belief; even the belief that G.o.d is not what the Scriptures imply Him to be, All-in-all, but that there [25]

is an opposite intelligence or mind termed evil. This error of belief is idolatry, having "other G.o.ds before me."

In John i. 3 we read, "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made."

[Page 46.]

The admission of the reality of evil perpetuates the belief [1]

or faith in evil. The Scriptures declare, "To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are."

The leading self-evident proposition of Christian Science is: good being real, evil, good's opposite, is unreal. This [5]