How My Family Found Christian Science

While my mother attended Sunday school in a reformed Jewish synagogue in her youth, she and my grandparents could be best described as secular in outlook     with little interest in religion.  After graduating from high school, she attended college at the University of California, but had to drop out upon or shortly after her first year sometime in 1942 as a result of an incurable, deteriorating digestive health condition.  She became an invalid confined to bed, unable to eat normally, and was on a rapid, downward trajectory as she lost weight and strength.  Despite seeking help from the best medical specialists in San Francisco, none could be found that offered any hope of cure. 

My grandparents had a successful millinery shop in the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco at the time.  One early evening after the shop was closed for business, the bookkeeper came in to pick up the week’s receipt and purchase records.  To her surprise, she found my grandfather seated in the back room leaning over his desk and weeping.  When she tenderly inquired what was troubling him, he explained that his only daughter, my mom, was dying and that nothing could be done to help her.   As I recall the details, this kind woman suggested that she had a book that could be of great help.  Either that evening or sometime shortly afterward, she gave my grandfather a copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, and told him to give it to her and have her read it.

As I recall from my mother’s reminisces, she read Science and Health all afternoon with intensity and without interruption.  At dinner time she realized that her strength and normal appetite returned.  She came downstairs to the dining room and joined my grandparents in eating a normal meal for the first time in several months.   She was cured and that was the end of the debilitating illness!  I recall my mother telling me that my grandparents both wept with tears of joy at the dinner table that evening as they witnessed my mother’s complete healing.  They all knew it was that the divine truth in that book that resulted in the healing.    

This healing profoundly changed my mother, and she became interested in Christian Science.  My mother’s healing was exactly like those testimonies in the “Fruitage” chapter of Science and Health in which healing resulted from reading the book.  She soon began attending a local Christian Science church in San Francisco and became an active member sometime thereafter.   

While my grandparents didn’t pursue any interest in Christian Science, I do recall that my grandmother had great respect for this healing religion.  One time while riding in the family car with my mom and grandmother, I specifically recall a conversation in which my grandmother referred to a young child (who may have been a family member of a friend) who was quickly healed of a serious hand injury by vehemently denying its reality with a simple, childlike conviction.  She exclaimed that this child was a “natural Christian Scientist”.   Another time when I was young, I recall attending a Christian Science lecture at a local San Francisco movie theater with my mom and grandmother.   I am certain that if my mother’s healing didn’t happen just as I have described, my grandmother would have had a very dismissive attitude toward Christian Science.

My dad had no interest in religion, but I do recall when I was about 5 years of age that he had an operation to remove kidney stones and being very ill-at-ease when he was away from home in the hospital.  Some years later, my mom explained that his operation was unsuccessful, and his doctors wanted to repeat the operation.   He was in such extreme discomfort that it only took gentle prodding to obtain his consent to prayerful treatment by a Christian Science practitioner; he was quickly healed and a second operation wasn’t necessary.  

As a young child, I had no interest in attending Sunday School.  I much preferred going on Sunday morning adventures with my dad.  When I began to ask my parents “how do people know that there is a God?”, my mother knew it was time for me to attend.  I reluctantly attended Sunday School at the 4th Church of Christ Scientist in San Francisco.   I only regret that I didn’t immediately realize the tremendous blessing that this attendance represented at the time.  Today, when I teach a Sunday School class, I love to tell the students that the best thing my mom ever did for me was to enroll me in a Christian Science Sunday School!

by J.E.H.

Not Alone

“Not Alone”  — focusing on the unchanging fact that we are never without Love’s presence — now when we are distant from each other, and whenever we feel threatened or bereft of help.

The Christian Science Hymnal, No. 7

Abide with me; fast breaks the morning light; / Our daystar rises, banishing all night; / Thou art our strength, O Truth that maketh free, / We would unfailingly abide in Thee. /

I know no fear, with Thee at hand to bless, / Sin hath no power and life no wretchedness; / Health, hope and love in all around I see / For those who trustingly abide in Thee. /

I know Thy presence every passing hour, / I know Thy peace, for Thou alone art power; / O Love divine, abiding constantly, / I need not plead, Thou dost abide with me.

The Bible

… ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
(II Corinthians 6:16–18 ye)

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
(Psalms 23:6)

Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.
(Psalms 71:3)

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
(Psalms 91:9–11)

¶ And Jacob went out from Beer–sheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: …

And, behold, I am with thee, …

… ¶ And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.
(Genesis 28:10–13 (to :), 15 (to 3rd ,), 16)

¶ And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
(Genesis 32:24–29)

¶ It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. …

He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. …

Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
(Lamentations 3:22–26, 28, 41)

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. …

Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. …

… ¶ Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. …

There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. …

Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. …

Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. …

And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. ¶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
(Daniel 3:1, 4–6, 8, 9, 12, 14–18, 21, 23–26)

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. …

When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
(Psalms 63:1–4, 6)

And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: …

And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: …

Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. ¶ And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. …

And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.
(Daniel 10:4, 5, 7, 8 (to :), 9–12, 16–19)

And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
(Isaiah 32:17, 18)

¶ And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: …
(Luke 9:18 (to :))

I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. …

And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
(John 8:26, 29)

O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. …

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? …

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
(Psalms 139:1–3, 7, 17, 18)

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy

Existence, separate from divinity, Science explains as impossible.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 522:10)

Spiritual man is the image or idea of God, an idea which cannot be lost nor separated from its divine Principle. When the evidence before the material senses yielded to spiritual sense, the apostle declared that nothing could alienate him from God, from the sweet sense and presence of Life and Truth.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 303:28)

Let us rid ourselves of the belief that man is separated from God, and obey only the divine Principle, Life and Love.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 91:5–7)

Man is not absorbed in Deity, and man cannot lose his individuality, for he reflects eternal Life; nor is he an isolated, solitary idea, for he represents infinite Mind, the sum of all substance.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 259:1)

“When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and, when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.”

So spake Jesus. The closet typifies the sanctuary of Spirit, the door of which shuts out sinful sense but lets in Truth, Life, and Love. Closed to error, it is open to Truth, and vice versa. The Father in secret is unseen to the physical senses, but He knows all things and rewards according to motives, not according to speech. To enter into the heart of prayer, the door of the erring senses must be closed. Lips must be mute and materialism silent, that man may have audience with Spirit, the divine Principle, Love, which destroys all error.

In order to pray aright, we must enter into the closet and shut the door. We must close the lips and silence the material senses. In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead God’s allness. We must resolve to take up the cross, and go forth with honest hearts to work and watch for wisdom, Truth, and Love. We must “pray without ceasing.” Such prayer is answered, in so far as we put our desires into practice. The Master’s injunction is, that we pray in secret and let our lives attest our sincerity.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 14:31–24)

Christian Scientists must live under the constant pressure of the apostolic command to come out from the material world and be separate.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 451:2–4)

The footsteps of thought, rising above material standpoints, are slow, and portend a long night to the traveller; but the angels of His presence — the spiritual intuitions that tell us when “the night is far spent, the day is at hand” — are our guardians in the gloom.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 174:9–14)

ANGELS.?God’s thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 581:4)

Angels are God’s representatives. These upward-soaring beings never lead towards self, sin, or materiality, but guide to the divine Principle of all good, whither every real individuality, image, or likeness of God, gathers. By giving earnest heed to these spiritual guides they tarry with us, and we entertain “angels unawares.”
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 299:11)

The Old Testament assigns to the angels, God’s divine messages, different offices.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 566:29–30)

Gabriel has the more quiet task of imparting a sense of the ever-presence of ministering Love. These angels deliver us from the depths. Truth and Love come nearer in the hour of woe, when strong faith or spiritual strength wrestles and prevails through the understanding of God. The Gabriel of His presence has no contests. To infinite, ever-present Love, all is Love, and there is no error, no sin, sickness, nor death.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 567:1–8)

… material sense, this divine universe is dim and distant, gray in the sombre hues of twilight; but anon the veil is lifted, and the scene shifts into light. In the record, time is not yet measured by solar revolutions, and the motions and reflections of deific power cannot be apprehended until divine Science becomes the interpreter.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 513:8 material)

… the Word, the polar magnet of Revelation; eastward, to the star seen by the Wisemen of the Orient, who followed it to the manger of Jesus; southward, to the genial tropics, with the Southern Cross in the skies, — the Cross of Calvary, which binds human society into solemn union; westward, to the grand realization of the Golden Shore of Love and the Peaceful Sea of Harmony.

This heavenly city, lighted by the Sun of Righteousness, — this New Jerusalem, this infinite All, which to us seems hidden in the mist of remoteness, — reached St. John’s vision while yet he tabernacled …
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 575:27–7 the (to tabernacled))

Jacob was alone, wrestling with error, — struggling with a mortal sense of life, substance, and intelligence as existent in matter with its false pleasures and pains, — when an angel, a message from Truth and Love, appeared to him and smote the sinew, or strength, of his error, till he saw its unreality; and Truth, being thereby understood, gave him spiritual strength in this Peniel of divine Science. … Then Jacob questioned his deliverer, “Tell me, I pray thee, thy name;” but this appellation was withheld, for the messenger was not a corporeal being, but a nameless, incorporeal impartation of divine Love to man, which, to use the word of the Psalmist, restored his Soul, — gave him the spiritual sense of being and rebuked his material sense.

The result of Jacob’s struggle thus appeared. He had conquered material error with the understanding of Spirit and of spiritual power. This changed the man.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 308:16–23, 32–9 (to 2nd .))

Would existence without personal friends be to you a blank? Then the time will come when you will be solitary, left without sympathy; but this seeming vacuum is already filled with divine Love. When this hour of development comes, even if you cling to a sense of personal joys, spiritual Love will force you to accept what best promotes your growth.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 266:6–12)

WILDERNESS.?Loneliness; … Spontaneity of thought and idea; the vestibule in which a material sense of things disappears, and spiritual sense unfolds the great facts of existence.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 597:16)

The Christian Science Hymnal, No. 584

The Lord is my Shepherd; I need not a thing. / Green pastures give rest for my soul. / Love leads me beside the still, still waters. / Love restores me, and Love makes me whole. /

Love leads me in right paths to honor God’s name, / And though I walk through darkest days, / I won’t be afraid for Love’s here beside me / To protect me and show me the way. /

Though sin would surround me, my cup overflows; / You show that I’m never alone. / Your goodness and love are mine forever; / In the dwelling of Love, I am home.

The Christian Science Hymnal, No. 317

Still, still with Thee when purple morning breaketh, / When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee, / Fairer than morning, lovelier than the daylight, / Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee. /

Alone with Thee, amid the changing shadows, / Solemn the hush of nature, newly born; / Alone with Thee, in breathless adoration, / In the calm dew and freshness of the morn. /

So shall it ever be in the bright morning, / When hearts awaking see the shadows flee, / O, in that hour, and fairer than the dawning, / Rises the glorious thought, I am with Thee.
(The Christian Science Hymnal, No. 317)

Nosebleed stopped quickly

As the airplane began to descend for landing, my nose started to bleed.  It wasn’t the first time that I’ve been troubled with this problem and frequently it  has lasted for quite a while.  I immediately turned to God in prayer and mentally said a strong “No, you have no power over me, no cause”. I continued to affirm that God is the only cause and causes only that which is good, normal, harmonious.  My identity is not in a  malfunctioning, matter body,  Divine Love is present, caring for everyone on this plane and meeting all needs.  With that the bleeding stopped.  I had been talking with my seat mates and I don’t think they were even aware of the problem.  I was happy to be free as the plane landed.  When we take a step forward spiritually, it is always a time for gratitude.  I am deeply grateful that Christian Science shows us how to follow in the steps of Christ Jesus’ healings.

NH

 

Skin condition healed and character improved

Our son came home from a school trip to Costa Rica with a very aggressive skin condition on his face. It began to spread to other areas of his body, and I prayed diligently with the support of a Christian Science practitioner, to overcome the fears that were coming to me and to our son. I stayed by our son’s side day and night, reading to him and encouraging him with the truths that came to my thought. In a few days we both felt free from fear, but the condition seemed to continue to spread.

The school nurse contacted us, and informed us that the Health Department had been brought in, because a couple of other children were experiencing the same thing. One family visited a medical clinic, and the doctors said that it was not contagious, which satisfied the Health Department.

As we continued to pray, we tackled some of our son’s character issues that concerned me, such as his unwillingness to help out when asked, the tendency to procrastinate, and disobedience. These were impositions on a young man who is very intelligent, perceptive, loving, and thoughtful, and I wanted to see through the belief that man is made up of right and wrong, good and evil.

One day, our son said to me, “Mom, I’m not sure why I wasn’t helping you when you asked, but now I will help you anytime you ask.” This has proven to be the case. He is always ready to help, has become more organized, takes initiative in doing his work on time and is more responsible and much happier.

From then on the skin condition stopped spreading and gradually faded. We no longer needed to use bandages. He returned to school and finished the year with very good grades and compliments from his teachers about his helpful and confident nature. It goes without saying that I am very grateful for this healing which included the transformation in our son’s character.

HB

Swollen throat healed through prayer

This past spring a mild sore throat quickly turned into a situation where I could barely swallow, and I could open my mouth only wide enough to fit a straw. I wasn’t able to eat or drink much, and so for several days I took a few sips of liquid every few hours. The pain was so great that I chose to be hungry rather than to swallow.

I had been working with a Christian Science Practitioner on another situation, and so she continued to support me. There came a day though, that I felt I wasn’t going to be able to go much longer in this condition, and I felt I should change practitioners.

I asked my husband to call for me and as soon as the prayerful work began I felt a release from concern about not eating and I felt a gentle stirring in my consciousness.

During the day, I prayed with every passage that I have memorized from the Bible, Science and Health and Mrs. Eddy’s other writings. I listened to Christian Science online lectures all through the night and listened to the audio reading of Science and Health on JSH online. I was so grateful for these!

As the days went by I realized something: that I needed to be quiet more and wait on God before I offered feedback or my opinion, especially at work. In No and Yes, page 8, Mrs. Eddy says, “We should endeavor to be long-suffering, faithful, and charitable with all. To this small effort let us add more privilege—namely, silence whenever it can substitute censure.”  It became obvious that all I needed to do was trust more, and if it was right for me to say anything, God would provide the opportunity and the right words. This may sound simplistic, but for someone who has a lot of ideas coming to me on how to make things better, run more smoothly, etc., it required attentiveness on my part to hold back and wait on God.

I was making progress, although I still couldn’t eat. I was able to get up and sit at the dinner table and my husband made me smoothies. They took a very long time to drink, but I was grateful.

One night I just felt that I couldn’t stand the pain any longer and I was starving and so uncomfortable. I reached out again with my whole heart to God, and all of a sudden it became very clear that I needed to heal everything I had ever done that was unkind or wrong or missed the mark in any way. I knew the past could be redeemed and the practitioner explained that I could apply my current understanding of God to heal anything in my past. It seemed like a Herculean undertaking, but I opened my thought to what I should handle first, and memories from when I was just a little girl started coming to mind. I corrected everything, praying with verses from our Pastor (the Bible and Science and Health, together) and from Prose Works. I was very specific and I didn’t let anything go until I was completely sure I had corrected the error and replaced it with the truth about myself.

As I kept at this, little by little, my mouth started to open! And I was able to swallow more easily. Day after day and even during the night when I found it difficult to sleep, I asked God what needed correcting and something would come to mind. Healing these past errors freed me from the latent guilt that had been making its home in my consciousness, and I made steady progress.

It was a couple more weeks before I could open my mouth fully, but I was able to eat soft food and drink with more freedom. One day my jaw popped and I was able to open my mouth normally and swallow easily.

What was so wonderful about this healing was that it was truly a Christianly scientific healing because it uncovered and healed sin. I feel I was completely transformed by this healing and I am extremely grateful.

HB

Stopped-up ears healed through prayer

Swimming is an activity I enjoy a great deal.  However, the first time I went swimming this spring, one of my ears stopped up.  This had never happened before, but I didn’t think much about it and assumed it would soon correct itself.  However, for several weeks as I continued to swim the ear continued to be stopped up.  At that point I realized I needed to pray about it.  I affirmed that every function of my body is governed by the one divine Mind, which is God, and thus performs normally and harmoniously.  The principle of God’s harmonious universe provides that an activity that expresses God, such as swimming, can’t result in harm or an abnormal condition.

However, several weeks passed, the ear didn’t clear, and I noticed that numbness was creeping into my cheek.  At that point several fear-filled questions flooded my consciousness:  What is this?  Why doesn’t it go away?  Will it affect my hearing?

I dealt with these fears by more diligently turning to what I’ve learned about God’s all-good government. The first chapter of Genesis states that man is made in the image and likeness of God, thus is spiritual and perfect. Since God is constant, unchanging goodness, I reasoned that I must also be all good, and couldn’t lose that perfection (even if it appeared to be so).  My true spiritual substance as an idea of God could not be affected by any material condition or circumstance, and consistently acknowledging this brought it out in my experience.

As I continued to affirm the truth (as God sees it) about my identity and deny any abnormal condition, my fears left, the ear cleared and did not get stopped up again.   I continue to swim with joy and gratitude!

NH

Prayer to God reverses stroke

One afternoon four years ago I was on our deck watering plants, when I suddenly felt very faint and more or less collapsed. Thankfully my wife, who is not a Christian Scientist church member but is very supportive, saw my fall and was able to drag me to our car and drive me to the emergency room of a local hospital.

Once there, she called one of my church members and asked her and other members to pray for me. At the hospital, I was given drugs and diagnosed as having had a major stroke on the right side of my brain, one that might leave me partially or totally paralyzed and unable to speak. My wife was told that essentially the right side of my brain had died.

During the night I was awakened every hour as part of stroke protocol, and each time my wife would declare to me that this diagnosis was a false idol and one that we would not worship.

The next morning, when I awoke, I was able to recognize my wife and showed signs of recovery, but there were still fears of lasting damage, and so another brain scan was ordered to determine the extent of the injury. When the attending physicians saw the brain scan, they were amazed and mystified; there were absolutely no signs of the damage which had been so apparent in the initial scan. The doctors were unable to explain this development, but I knew that the power of God, as brought to bear by the prayers of our church members and my wife, had accomplished this otherwise inexplicable result.

I was directed to stay in the hospital for several days for observation, but in the years since I have been free of after-effects or limitations of any kind.  I continue to be immensely grateful for the loving support of my wife and our church membership and this demonstration of the power of God in the most severe circumstances.

JS

 

Stomach pain overcome through prayer

One day recently I was suddenly overcome with extreme stomach pains. I couldn’t quiet thought enough to feel God’s presence. I called a Christian Science practitioner and left a request for prayerful support on the answering machine. I lay down and tried to reach out to feel God’s love. I prayed with the “Scientific Statement of Being” from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy.

The first sentence states “There is no life, truth, intelligence nor substance in matter.” I reasoned that matter can’t make any conditions for a spiritual idea of God, my true identity. Fear and anxiety arose as I remembered I had a special event to attend that evening. Would I be able to go? Would the pain be gone? Might it reoccur at the event? I realized that the fear needed to be overcome and dismissed. It still seemed hard to “Be still and know that I am God”, as the Bible admonishes us.

The next thing I knew it was 6:00 PM. I had been asleep for around two hours. I was completely free of the pain. I gratefully thanked and praised God. I attended the evening event and was pain free. When we are able to prove that as Mrs. Eddy tells us, Life in and of Spirit is the sole reality of existence, it is a joy to gain a step forward on our spiritual journey. I am deeply grateful for Christin Science practitioners who stand ready and willing to prayerfully support us. And for Christian Science.

NH

Addressing Opioid addiction with Christian Science

These articles in The Christian Science Monitor, highlighting the need for compassion and practical solutions in the opioid crisis, led the way for these readings.

https://www.csmonitor.com/content/search?SearchText=opioids

Hymn 8

Henry Francis Lyte

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is death’s sting? where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

 Hymn 447

Satisfied

Mary Baker Eddy

It matters not what be thy lot,
So Love doth guide;
For storm or shine, pure peace is thine,
Whate’er betide.

And of these stones, or tyrants’ thrones,
God able is
To raise up seed—in thought and deed—To faithful His.
Aye, darkling sense, arise, go hence!
Our God is good.
False fears are foes—truth tatters those,When understood.

Love looseth thee, and lifteth me,
Ayont hate’s thrall:
There Life is light, and wisdom might, And God is All.
The centuries break, the earth-bound wake,
God’s glorified!
Who doth His will—His likeness still—Is satisfied.

Hymn 10

Frederic W. Root

Based on hymn by Martin Luther

All power is given unto our Lord,
On Him we place reliance;
With truth from out His sacred word
We bid our foes defiance.
With Him we shall prevail,
Whatever may assail;
He is our shield and tower,
Almighty is His power;
His kingdom is forever.

Rejoice, ye people, praise His name,
His care doth e’er surround us.
His love to error’s thralldom came,
And from its chains unbound us.
Our Lord is God alone,
No other power we own;
No other voice we heed,
No other help we need;
His kingdom is forever.

O then give thanks to God on high,
Who life to all is giving;
The hosts of death before Him fly,
In Him we all are living.
Then let us know no fear,
Our King is ever near;
Our stay and fortress strong,
Our strength, our hope, our song;
His kingdom is forever.

The Bible

Jer. 8:22 (to 2nd ?)

Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Jer. 46:11

Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.

II Chron. 16:12, 13

And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians.

¶?And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.

Jer. 30:13

There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.

Ps. 30:10

Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper.

Ps. 25:16-18, 20-22 (to 1st .)

Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses. Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins. … O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

Ps. 30:2, 3

O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

Ps. 41:4 (to :), 11

I said, Lord, be merciful unto me: … By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

Jer. 30:10, 11 (to 1st 🙂

¶?Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee:

Jer. 30:16, 17 (to 😉

Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey. For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord;

Mark 5:25-29, 32-34

And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. … And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

Rev. 21:3, 4

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Jer. 17:14

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.

From Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy
SH 142:26-8, 10

Which was first, Mind or medicine? If Mind was first and self-existent, then Mind, not matter, must have been the first medicine. God being All-in-all, He made medicine; but that medicine was Mind. It could not have been matter, which departs from the nature and character of Mind, God. Truth is God’s remedy for error of every kind, and Truth destroys only what is untrue. Hence the fact that, to-day, as yesterday, Christ casts out evils and heals the sick.

It is plain that God does not employ drugs or hygiene, nor provide them for human use; else Jesus would have recommended and employed them in his healing. The divine Mind never called matter medicine, and matter required a material and human belief before it could be considered as medicine.

SH 146:13-14

Material medicine substitutes drugs for the power of God?—?even the might of Mind?—?to heal the body.

SH 155:28

Vegetarianism, homœopathy, and hydropathy have diminished drugging; but if drugs are an antidote to disease, why lessen the antidote? If drugs are good things, is it safe to say that the less in quantity you have of them the better? If drugs possess intrinsic virtues or intelligent curative qualities, these qualities must be mental. Who named drugs, and what made them good or bad for mortals, beneficial or injurious?

SH 157:16-22, 23 Erring

If drugs are part of God’s creation, which (according to the narrative in Genesis) He pronounced good, then drugs cannot be poisonous. If He could create drugs intrinsically bad, then they should never be used. If He creates drugs at all and designs them for medical use, why did Jesus not employ them and recommend them for the treatment of disease? … Erring mortal mind confers the power which the drug seems to possess.

SH 169:20

There can be no healing except by this Mind, however much we trust a drug or any other means towards which human faith or endeavor is directed. It is mortal mind, not matter, which brings to the sick whatever good they may seem to receive from materiality. But the sick are never really healed except by means of the divine power. Only the action of Truth, Life, and Love can give harmony.

SH 158:16

Drugs, cataplasms, and whiskey are stupid substitutes for the dignity and potency of divine Mind and its efficacy to heal. It is pitiful to lead men into temptation through the byways of this wilderness world,?—?to victimize the race with intoxicating prescriptions for the sick, until mortal mind acquires an educated appetite for strong drink, and men and women become loathsome sots.

SH 157:26

Narcotics quiet mortal mind, and so relieve the body; but they leave both mind and body worse for this submission. Christian Science impresses the entire corporeality,?—?namely, mind and body,?—?and brings out the proof that Life is continuous and harmonious. Science both neutralizes error and destroys it. Mankind is the better for this spiritual and profound pathology.

SH 149:3-9

Mind as far outweighs drugs in the cure of disease as in the cure of sin. The more excellent way is divine Science in every case. Is materia medica a science or a bundle of speculative human theories? The prescription which succeeds in one instance fails in another, and this is owing to the different mental states of the patient.

SH 164:9

It is just to say that generally the cultured class of medical practitioners are grand men and women, therefore they are more scientific than are false claimants to Christian Science. But all human systems based on material premises are minus the unction of divine Science. Much yet remains to be said and done before all mankind is saved and all the mental microbes of sin and all diseased thought-germs are exterminated.

SH 394:22-29

Will you tell the sick that their condition is hopeless, unless it can be aided by a drug or climate? Are material means the only refuge from fatal chances? Is there no divine permission to conquer discord of every kind with harmony, with Truth and Love?

We should remember that Life is God, and that God is omnipotent.

SH 463:27-28

There is a law of God applicable to healing, and it is a spiritual law instead of material.

SH 482:27-29 Christian

Christian Science is the law of Truth, which heals the sick on the basis of the one Mind or God.

SH 162:4-13

Christian Science brings to the body the sunlight of Truth, which invigorates and purifies. Christian Science acts as an alterative, neutralizing error with Truth. It changes the secretions, expels humors, dissolves tumors, relaxes rigid muscles, restores carious bones to soundness. The effect of this Science is to stir the human mind to a change of base, on which it may yield to the harmony of the divine Mind.

Experiments have favored the fact that Mind governs the body, not in one instance, but in every instance.

SH 160:4

When mortals forsake the material for the spiritual basis of action, drugs lose their healing force, for they have no innate power. Unsupported by the faith reposed in it, the inanimate drug becomes powerless.

SH 420:10-13, 17-27

Instruct the sick that they are not helpless victims, for if they will only accept Truth, they can resist disease and ward it off, as positively as they can the temptation to sin. … The fact that Truth overcomes both disease and sin reassures depressed hope. It imparts a healthy stimulus to the body, and regulates the system. It increases or diminishes the action, as the case may require, better than any drug, alterative, or tonic.

Mind is the natural stimulus of the body, but erroneous belief, taken at its best, is not promotive of health or happiness. Tell the sick that they can meet disease fearlessly, if they only realize that divine Love gives them all power over every physical action and condition.

SH 421:15-18 (to 2nd .)

Insist vehemently on the great fact which covers the whole ground, that God, Spirit, is all, and that there is none beside Him. There is no disease.

SH 143:26-31

Mind is the grand creator, and there can be no power except that which is derived from Mind. If Mind was first chronologically, is first potentially, and must be first eternally, then give to Mind the glory, honor, dominion, and power everlastingly due its holy name.

SH 379:6

The real jurisdiction of the world is in Mind, controlling every effect and recognizing all causation as vested in divine Mind.

 

 

Healing mental disorders through spiritual means

Each Wednesday Evening Testimony meeting includes passages from The Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy.  Recently, the following passages were read, shared here to point a way out of mental disorders through turning to the only original Mind, Spirit, God.

Hymn 64
Words by Violet Hay

From sense to Soul my pathway lies before me,
From mist and shadow into Truth’s clear day;
The dawn of all things real is breaking o’er me,
My heart is singing: I have found the way.

I reach Mind’s open door, and at its portal
I know that where I stand is holy ground;
I feel the calm and joy of things immortal,
The loveliness of Love is all around.

The way leads upward and its goal draws nearer,
Thought soars enraptured, fetterless and free;
The vision infinite to me grows clearer,
I touch the fringes of eternity.

From the KJV Bible

John 1:1, 3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Job 23:13 1st he, 14
he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Rom. 11:34, 36
For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? … For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

I Cor. 2:12, 16 (to .)
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. … For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Rom. 12:2
…be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Luke 12:35
Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;

Rom. 7:18-25 (to 1st .)
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom. 8:1, 2, 5, 6, 31
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

I Pet. 1:13
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Luke 8:22, 26-36, 38, 39
¶?Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.

¶?And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.) And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them. Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked. When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.

Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.

Mark 7:24-30
¶?And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

Isa. 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Eph. 4:17, 18, 20-24
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: … But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Eph. 5:8-11
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

Phil. 2:2, 5
Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. … Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Phil. 4:7
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

II Tim. 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy

SH 335:25-26 Mind
Mind is the divine Principle, Love, and can produce nothing unlike the eternal Father-Mother, God.

SH 469:12-21
Question.?—?What is Mind?
Answer.?—?Mind is God. The exterminator of error is the great truth that God, good, is the only Mind, and that the supposititious opposite of infinite Mind ?—?called devil or evil?—?is not Mind, is not Truth, but error, without intelligence or reality. There can be but one Mind, because there is but one God; and if mortals claimed no other Mind and accepted no other, sin would be unknown. We can have but one Mind, if that one is infinite.

SH 544:16-17
All is under the control of the one Mind, even God.

SH 284:8, 12-15, 19
Infinite Mind can have no starting-point, and can return to no limit. It can never be in bonds, nor be fully manifested through corporeality.
Can matter recognize Mind? Can infinite Mind recognize matter? Can the infinite dwell in the finite or know aught unlike the infinite?
The answer to all these questions must forever be in the negative.

SH 470:16 The (only, to 2nd .)
The children of God have but one Mind.

SH 336:9 Immortal
Immortal man was and is God’s image or idea, even the infinite expression of infinite Mind, and immortal man is coexistent and coeternal with that Mind. He has been forever in the eternal Mind, God; but infinite Mind can never be in man, but is reflected by man. The spiritual man’s consciousness and individuality are reflections of God. They are the emanations of Him who is Life, Truth, and Love. Immortal man is not and never was material, but always spiritual and eternal.

SH 467:29-3
Reasoning from cause to effect in the Science of Mind, we begin with Mind, which must be understood through the idea which expresses it and cannot be learned from its opposite, matter. Thus we arrive at Truth, or intelligence, which evolves its own unerring idea and never can be coordinate with human illusions.

SH 276:1
Having one God, one Mind, unfolds the power that heals the sick, and fulfils these sayings of Scripture, “I am the Lord that healeth thee,” and “I have found a ransom.” When the divine precepts are understood, they unfold the foundation of fellowship, in which one mind is not at war with another, but all have one Spirit, God, one intelligent source, in accordance with the Scriptural command: “Let this Mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Man and his Maker are correlated in divine Science, and real consciousness is cognizant only of the things of God.

SH 216:11
The understanding that the Ego is Mind, and that there is but one Mind or intelligence, begins at once to destroy the errors of mortal sense and to supply the truth of immortal sense. This understanding makes the body harmonious; it makes the nerves, bones, brain, etc., servants, instead of masters. If man is governed by the law of divine Mind, his body is in submission to everlasting Life and Truth and Love. The great mistake of mortals is to suppose that man, God’s image and likeness, is both matter and Spirit, both good and evil.

SH 492:29-31
The conservative theory, long believed, is that there are two factors, matter and mind, uniting on some impossible basis.

SH 469:25-30
We lose the high signification of omnipotence, when after admitting that God, or good, is omnipresent and has all-power, we still believe there is another power, named evil. This belief that there is more than one mind is as pernicious to divine theology as are ancient mythology and pagan idolatry.

SH 96:12-23
This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.

Mortal error will vanish in a moral chemicalization. This mental fermentation has begun, and will continue until all errors of belief yield to understanding.

SH 96:25-27
As this consummation draws nearer, he who has shaped his course in accordance with divine Science will endure to the end.

SH 96:31
During this final conflict, wicked minds will endeavor to find means by which to accomplish more evil; but those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection.

SH 97:5-7
In reality, the more closely error simulates truth and so-called matter resembles its essence, mortal mind, the more impotent error becomes as a belief.

SH 114:23-27
Christian Science explains all cause and effect as mental, not physical. It lifts the veil of mystery from Soul and body. It shows the scientific relation of man to God, disentangles the interlaced ambiguities of being, and sets free the imprisoned thought.

SH 162:9-13
The effect of this Science is to stir the human mind to a change of base, on which it may yield to the harmony of the divine Mind.

Experiments have favored the fact that Mind governs the body, not in one instance, but in every instance.

SH 191:16
The human thought must free itself from self-imposed materiality and bondage. It should no longer ask of the head, heart, or lungs: What are man’s prospects for life? Mind is not helpless. Intelligence is not mute before non-intelligence.

SH 281:7 (only), 18-24
Error presupposes man to be both mind and matter.

The mind supposed to exist in matter or beneath a skull bone is a myth, a misconceived sense and false conception as to man and Mind. When we put off the false sense for the true, and see that sin and mortality have neither Principle nor permanency, we shall learn that sin and mortality are without actual origin or rightful existence.

SH 283:32
Are mentality, immortality, consciousness, resident in matter? It is not rational to say that Mind is infinite, but dwells in finiteness,?—?in matter,?—?or that matter is infinite and the medium of Mind.

SH 192:19-21
In Science, you can have no power opposed to God, and the physical senses must give up their false testimony.

SH 151:18-5 The
The blood, heart, lungs, brain, etc., have nothing to do with Life, God. Every function of the real man is governed by the divine Mind. The human mind has no power to kill or to cure, and it has no control over God’s man. The divine Mind that made man maintains His own image and likeness. The human mind is opposed to God and must be put off, as St. Paul declares. All that really exists is the divine Mind and its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal. The straight and narrow way is to see and acknowledge this fact, yield to this power, and follow the leadings of truth.

That mortal mind claims to govern every organ of the mortal body, we have overwhelming proof. But this so-called mind is a myth, and must by its own consent yield to Truth. It would wield the sceptre of a monarch, but it is powerless. The immortal divine Mind takes away all its supposed sovereignty, and saves mortal mind from itself.

SH 191:4
As mortals give up the delusion that there is more than one Mind, more than one God, man in God’s likeness will appear, and this eternal man will include in that likeness no material element.

SH 393:16-18
Be firm in your understanding that the divine Mind governs, and that in Science man reflects God’s government.

SH 249:1, 8-10
Let us accept Science, relinquish all theories based on sense-testimony, give up imperfect models and illusive ideals; and so let us have one God, one Mind, and that one perfect, producing His own models of excellence.

Let us rejoice that we are subject to the divine “powers that be.” Such is the true Science of being.

SH 510:28-1
Science reveals only one Mind, and this one shining by its own light and governing the universe, including man, in perfect harmony.

Hymn 51
Words by Mary Alice Dayton

Eternal Mind the Potter is,
And thought th’ eternal clay:
The hand that fashions is divine,
His works pass not away.
Man is the noblest work of God,
His beauty, power and grace,
Immortal; perfect as his Mind
Reflected face to face.

God could not make imperfect man
His model infinite;
Unhallowed thought He could not plan,
Love’s work and Love must fit.
Life, Truth and Love the pattern make,
Christ is the perfect heir;
The clouds of sense roll back, and show
The form divinely fair.

God’s will is done; His kingdom come;
The Potter’s work is plain.
The longing to be good and true
Has brought the light again.
And man does stand as God’s own child,
The image of His love.
Let gladness ring from every tongue,
And heaven and earth approve.

Hymn 66
Words by Violet Hay

From these Thy children gathered in Thy name,
From hearts made whole, from lips redeemed from woe,
Thy praise, O Father, shall forever flow.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

O perfect Life, in Thy completeness held,
None can beyond Thy omnipresence stray;
Safe in Thy Love, we live and sing alway
Alleluia! Alleluia!

O perfect Mind, reveal Thy likeness true,
That higher selfhood which we all must prove,
Joy and dominion, love reflecting Love.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou, Soul, inspiring—give us vision clear,
Break earth-bound fetters, sweep away the veil,
Show the new heaven and earth that shall prevail.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Here are a few testimonies from people healed of various mental disturbances:

http://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2014/8/116-32/out-of-the-darkness-of-addiction

http://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2013/1/115-01/perfect-peace-bipolar-no-more

http://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2011/3/113-12/healed-of-bipolar-disorder

http://journal.christianscience.com/issues/2012/12/130-12/mental-illness-healed

Here are 2 discussions with spiritual healers (Christian Science practitioners) about healing many kinds of mental disorders:

http://sentinel.christianscience.com/sentinel-audio/audio-chats/a-spiritual-response-to-mental-illness

http://sentinel.christianscience.com/sentinel-audio/audio-chats/healing-fear-panic-attacks-and-anxiety