Why art thou cast down, O my soul [sense]?
And why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him,
Who is the health of my countenance and my God. - PSALMS.
And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name
shall they cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues;
they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly
thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the
sick, and they shall recover. - JESUS.
A gospel narrative
362:1 IT is related in the seventh chapter of Luke's Gospel
that Jesus was once the honored guest of a certain
362:3 Pharisee, by name Simon, though he was quite unlike
Simon the disciple. While they were at meat, an unusual
incident occurred, as if to interrupt the scene
362:6 of Oriental festivity. A "strange woman"
came in. Heedless of the fact that she was debarred from
such a place and such society, especially under the stern
362:9 rules of rabbinical law, as positively as if she were a Hin-
doo pariah intruding upon the household of a high-caste
Brahman, this woman (Mary Magdalene, as she has
362:12 since been called) approached Jesus. According to the
custom of those days, he reclined on a couch with his
head towards the table and his bare feet away from it.
362:15 It was therefore easy for the Magdalen to come behind
363:1 the couch and reach his feet. She bore an alabaster jar
containing costly and fragrant oil, - sandal oil perhaps,
363:3 which is in such common use in the East. Breaking
the sealed jar, she perfumed Jesus' feet with the oil,
wiping them with her long hair, which hung loosely
363:6 about her shoulders, as was customary with women of her
grade.
Parable of the creditor
Did Jesus spurn the woman? Did he repel her adora-
363:9 tion? No! He regarded her compassionately. Nor was
this all. Knowing what those around him
were saying in their hearts, especially his host,
363:12 - that they were wondering why, being a prophet, the
exalted guest did not at once detect the woman's immoral
status and bid her depart, - knowing this, Jesus rebuked
363:15 them with a short story or parable. He described two
debtors, one for a large sum and one for a smaller, who
were released from their obligations by their common
363:18 creditor. "Which of them will love him most?" was the
Master's question to Simon the Pharisee; and Simon re-
plied, "He to whom he forgave most." Jesus approved
363:21 the answer, and so brought home the lesson to all, follow-
ing it with that remarkable declaration to the woman,
"Thy sins are forgiven."
Divine insight
363:24 Why did he thus summarize her debt to divine Love?
Had she repented and reformed, and did his insight
detect this unspoken moral uprising? She
363:27 bathed his feet with her tears before she
anointed them with the oil. In the absence of other
proofs, was her grief sufficient evidence to warrant the
363:30 expectation of her repentance, reformation, and growth
in wisdom? Certainly there was encouragement in the
mere fact that she was showing her affection for a man
364:1 of undoubted goodness and purity, who has since been
rightfully regarded as the best man that ever trod this
364:3 planet. Her reverence was unfeigned, and it was mani-
fested towards one who was soon, though they knew it
not, to lay down his mortal existence in behalf of all
364:6 sinners, that through his word and works they might be
redeemed from sensuality and sin.
Penitence or hospitality
Which was the higher tribute to such ineffable affec-
364:9 tion, the hospitality of the Pharisee or the contrition of
the Magdalen? This query Jesus answered
by rebuking self-righteousness and declaring
364:12 the absolution of the penitent. He even said that this
poor woman had done what his rich entertainer had neg-
lected to do, - wash and anoint his guest's feet, a special
364:15 sign of Oriental courtesy.
Here is suggested a solemn question, a question indi-
cated by one of the needs of this age. Do Christian
364:18 Scientists seek Truth as Simon sought the Saviour, through
material conservatism and for personal homage? Jesus
told Simon that such seekers as he gave small reward
364:21 in return for the spiritual purgation which came through
the Messiah. If Christian Scientists are like Simon,
then it must be said of them also that they /love/
364:24 little.
Genuine repentance
On the other hand, do they show their regard for
Truth, or Christ, by their genuine repentance, by their
364:27 broken hearts, expressed by meekness and
human affection, as did this woman? If
so, then it may be said of them, as Jesus said of the
364:30 unwelcome visitor, that they indeed love much, because
much is forgiven them.
Compassion requisite
Did the careless doctor, the nurse, the cook, and the
365:1 brusque business visitor sympathetically know the thorns
they plant in the pillow of the sick and the heavenly
365:3 homesick looking away from earth, - Oh, did
they know! - this knowledge would do much
more towards healing the sick and preparing their helpers
365:6 for the "midnight call," than all cries of "Lord, Lord!"
The benign thought of Jesus, finding utterance in such
words as "Take no thought for your life," would heal
365:9 the sick, and so enable them to rise above the supposed
necessity for physical thought-taking and doctoring;
but if the unselfish affections be lacking, and common
365:12 sense and common humanity are disregarded, what men-
tal quality remains, with which to evoke healing from
the outstretched arm of righteousness?
Speedy healing
365:15 If the Scientist reaches his patient through divine
Love, the healing work will be accomplished at one
visit, and the disease will vanish into its native
365:18 nothingness like dew before the morning sun-
shine. If the Scientist has enough Christly affection to
win his own pardon, and such commendation as the Mag-
365:21 dalen gained from Jesus, then he is Christian enough to
practise scientifically and deal with his patients compas-
sionately; and the result will correspond with the spiritual
365:24 intent.
Truth desecrated
If hypocrisy, stolidity, inhumanity, or vice finds its
way into the chambers of disease through the would-be
365:27 healer, it would, if it were possible, convert
into a den of thieves the temple of the Holy
Ghost, - the patient's spiritual power to resuscitate him-
365:30 self. The unchristian practitioner is not giving to mind
or body the joy and strength of Truth. The poor suf-
fering heart needs its rightful nutriment, such as peace,
366:1 patience in tribulation, and a priceless sense of the dear
Father's loving-kindness.
Moral evils to be cast out
366:3 In order to cure his patient, the metaphysician
must first cast moral evils out of himself and thus
attain the spiritual freedom which will en-
366:6 able him to cast physical evils out of his
patient; but heal he cannot, while his own spiritual
barrenness debars him from giving drink to the thirsty
366:9 and hinders him from reaching his patient's thought, -
yea, while mental penury chills his faith and under-
standing.
The true physician
366:12 The physician who lacks sympathy for his fellow-
being is deficient in human affection, and we have the
apostolic warrant for asking: "He that loveth
366:15 not his brother whom he hath seen, how can
he love God whom he hath not seen?" Not having this
spiritual affection, the physician lacks faith in the divine
366:18 Mind and has not that recognition of infinite Love which
alone confers the healing power. Such so-called Scien-
tists will strain out gnats, while they swallow the camels
366:21 of bigoted pedantry.
Source of calmness
The physician must also watch, lest he be over-
whelmed by a sense of the odiousness of sin and by the
366:24 unveiling of sin in his own thoughts. The
sick are terrified by their sick beliefs, and
sinners should be affrighted by their sinful beliefs; but
366:27 the Christian Scientist will be calm in the presence of
both sin and disease, knowing, as he does, that Life is
God and God is All.
Genuine healing
366:30 If we would open their prison doors for the sick, we
must first learn to bind up the broken-hearted. If we
would heal by the Spirit, we must not hide the talent
367:1 of spiritual healing under the napkin of its form, nor
bury the /morale /of Christian Science in the grave-clothes
367:3 of its letter. The tender word and Christian
encouragement of an invalid, pitiful patience
with his fears and the removal of them, are better than
367:6 hecatombs of gushing theories, stereotyped borrowed
speeches, and the doling of arguments, which are but so
many parodies on legitimate Christian Science, aflame
367:9 with divine Love.
Gratitude and humility
This is what is meant by seeking Truth, Christ, not
"for the loaves and fishes," nor, like the Pharisee, with
367:12 the arrogance of rank and display of scholar-
ship, but like Mary Magdalene, from the sum-
mit of devout consecration, with the oil of gladness and
367:15 the perfume of /gratitude/, with tears of repentance and
with those hairs all numbered by the Father.
The salt of the earth
A Christian Scientist occupies the place at this period
367:18 of which Jesus spoke to his disciples, when he said: "Ye
are the salt of the earth." "Ye are the light
of the world. A city that is set on an hill can-
367:21 not be hid." Let us watch, work, and pray that this salt
lose not its saltness, and that this light be not hid, but
radiate and glow into noontide glory.
367:24 The infinite Truth of the Christ-cure has come to this
age through a "still, small voice," through silent utter-
ances and divine anointing which quicken and increase
367:27 the beneficial effects of Christianity. I long to see the
consummation of my hope, namely, the student's higher
attainments in this line of light.
Real and counterfeit
367:30 Because Truth is infinite, error should be known as
nothing. Because Truth is omnipotent in goodness,
error, Truth's opposite, has no might. Evil is but the
368:1 counterpoise of nothingness. The greatest wrong is
but a supposititious opposite of the highest right. The
368:3 confidence inspired by Science lies in the fact
that Truth is real and error is unreal. Error
is a coward before Truth. Divine Science insists that
368:6 time will prove all this. Both truth and error have come
nearer than ever before to the apprehension of mortals,
and truth will become still clearer as error is self-
368:9 destroyed.
Results of faith in Truth
Against the fatal beliefs that error is as real as Truth,
that evil is equal in power to good if not superior, and that
368:12 discord is as normal as harmony, even the hope
of freedom from the bondage of sickness and
sin has little inspiration to nerve endeavor. When we
368:15 come to have more faith in the truth of being than we have
in error, more faith in Spirit than in matter, more faith
in living than in dying, more faith in God than in man,
368:18 then no material suppositions can prevent us from healing
the sick and destroying error.
Life independent of matter
That Life is not contingent on bodily conditions is
368:21 proved, when we learn that life and man survive this
body. Neither evil, disease, nor death can be
spiritual, and the material belief in them dis-
368:24 appears in the ratio of one's spiritual growth. Because
matter has no consciousness or Ego, it cannot act; its
conditions are illusions, and these false conditions are the
368:27 source of all seeming sickness. Admit the existence of
matter, and you admit that mortality (and therefore dis-
ease) has a foundation in fact. Deny the existence of
matter, and you can destroy the belief in material con-
ditions. When fear disappears, the foundation of disease
is gone. Once let the mental physician believe in the
369:1 reality of matter, and he is liable to admit also the reality
of all discordant conditions, and this hinders his de-
369:3 stroying them. Thus he is unfitted for the successful
treatment of disease.
Man's entity
In proportion as matter loses to human sense all en-
369:6 tity as man, in that proportion does man become its
master. He enters into a diviner sense of the
facts, and comprehends the theology of Jesus
369:9 as demonstrated in healing the sick, raising the dead,
and walking over the wave. All these deeds manifested
Jesus' control over the belief that matter is substance,
369:12 that it can be the arbiter of life or the constructor of any
form of existence.
The Christ treatment
We never read that Luke or Paul made a reality of
369:15 disease in order to discover some means of healing it.
Jesus never asked if disease were acute or
chronic, and he never recommended atten-
369:18 tion to laws of health, never give drugs, never prayed
to know if God were willing that a man should live. He
understood man, whose life is God, to be immortal, and
369:21 knew that man has not two lives, one to be destroyed and
the other to be made indestructible.
Matter not medicine
The prophylactic and therapeutic (that is, the prevent-
369:24 ive and curative) arts belong emphatically to Christian
Science, as would be readily seen, if psychology,
or the Science of Spirit, God, was understood.
369:27 Unscientific methods are finding their dead level. Lim-
ited to matter by their own law, what have they of the
advantages of Mind and immortality?
No healing in sin
369:30 No man is physically healed in wilful error or by it,
any more than he is morally saved in or by sin. It is
error even to murmur or to be angry over sin. To be
370:1 every whit whole, man must be better spiritually as well
as physically. To be immortal, we must forsake the
370:3 mortal sense of things, turn from the lie of false
belief to Truth, and gather the facts of being
from the divine Mind. The body improves under the
370:6 same regimen which spiritualizes the thought; and if
health is not made manifest under this regimen, this
proves that fear is governing the body. This is the law
370:9 of cause and effect, or like producing like.
Like curing like
Homoeopathy furnishes the evidence to the senses, that
symptoms, which might be produced by a certain drug,
370:12 are removed by using the same drug which
might cause the symptoms. This confirms
my theory that faith in the drug is the sole factor in the
370:15 cure. The effect, which mortal mind produces through
one belief, it removes through an opposite belief, but it
uses the same medicine in both cases.
370:18 The moral and spiritual facts of health, whispered
into thought, produce very direct and marked effects on
the body. A physical diagnosis of disease - since mor-
370:21 tal mind must be the cause of disease - tends to induce
disease.
Transient potency of drugs
According to both medical testimony and individual
370:24 experience, a drug may eventually lose its supposed power
and do no more for the patient. Hygienic
treatment also loses its efficacy. Quackery
370:27 likewise fails at length to inspire the credulity
of the sick, and then they cease to improve. These les-
sons are useful. They should naturally and genuinely
370:30 change our basis from sensation to Christian Science,
from error to Truth, from matter to Spirit.
Diagnosis of matter
Physicians examine the pulse, tongue, lungs, to dis-
371:1 cover the condition of matter, when in fact all is
Mind. The body is the substratum of mortal mind,
371:3 and this so-called mind must finally yield
to the mandate of immortal Mind.
Ghost-stories inducing fear
Disquisitions on disease have a mental effect similar
371:6 to that produced on children by telling ghost-stories in
the dark. By those uninstructed in Christian
Science, nothing is really understood of material
371:9 existence. Mortals are believed to be here without their
consent and to be removed as involuntarily, not knowing
why nor when. As frightened children look everywhere
371:12 for the imaginary ghost, so sick humanity sees danger in
every direction, and looks for relief in all ways except the
right one. Darkness induces fear. The adult, in bond-
371:15 age to his beliefs, no more comprehends his real being
than does the child; and the adult must be taken out of
his darkness, before he can get rid of the illusive suffer-
371:18 ings which throng the gloaming. The way in divine
Science is the only way out of this condition.
Mind imparts purity, health, and beauty
I would not transform the infant at once into a
371:21 man, nor would I keep the suckling a lifelong babe.
No impossible thing do I ask when urging
the claims of Christian Science; but because
371:24 this teaching is in advance of the age, we
should not deny our need of its spiritual unfoldment.
Mankind will improve through Science and Christi-
371:27 anity. The necessity for uplifting the race is father to
the fact that Mind can do it; for Mind can impart
purity instead of impurity, strength instead of weak-
371:30 ness, and health instead of disease. Truth is an altera-
tive in the entire system, and can make it "every whit
whole."
Brain not intelligent
372:1 Remember, brain is not mind. Matter cannot be sick,
and Mind is immortal. The mortal body is only an erro-
372:3 neous mortal belief of mind in matter. What
you call matter was originally error in solu-
tion, elementary mortal mind, - likened by Milton to
372:6 "chaos and old night." One theory about this mortal
mind is, that its sensations can reproduce man, can form
blood, flesh, and bones. The Science of being, in which
372:9 all is divine Mind, or God and His idea, would be clearer
in this age, but for the belief that matter is the medium
of man, or that man can enter his own embodied thought,
372:12 bind himself with his own beliefs, and then call his bonds
material and name them divine law.
Veritable success
When man demonstrates Christian Science absolutely,
372:15 he will be perfect. He can neither sin, suffer, be subject
to matter, nor disobey the law of God. There-
fore he will be as the angels in heaven. Chris-
372:18 tian Science and Christianity are one. How, then, in
Christianity any more than in Christian Science, can we
believe in the reality and power of both Truth and error,
372:21 Spirit and matter, and hope to succeed with contraries?
Matter is not self-sustaining. Its false supports fail one
after another. Matter succeeds for a period only by
372:24 falsely parading in the vestments of law.
Recognition of benefits
"Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also
deny before my Father which is in heaven." In Chris-
372:27 tian Science, a denial of Truth is fatal, while
a just acknowledgment of Truth and of what
it has done for us is an effectual help. If pride, super-
372:30 stition, or any error prevents the honest recognition of
benefits received, this will be a hindrance to the recovery
of the sick and the success of the student.
Disease far more docile than iniquity
373:1 If we are Christians on all moral questions, but are in
darkness as to the physical exemption which Christian-
373:3 ity includes, then we must have more faith
in God on this subject and be more alive to
His promises. It is easier to cure the most
373:6 malignant disease than it is to cure sin. The author has
raised up the dying, partly because they were willing to
be restored, while she has struggled long, and perhaps in
373:9 vain, to lift a student out of a chronic sin. Under all
modes of pathological treatment, the sick recover more
rapidly from disease than does the sinner from his sin.
373:12 Healing is easier than teaching, if the teaching is faithfully
done.
Love frees from fear
The fear of disease and the love of sin are the sources
373:15 of man's enslavement. "The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom," but the Scriptures
also declare, through the exalted thought of John, that
373:18 "perfect Love casteth out fear."
The fear occasioned by ignorance can be cured; but
to remove the effects of fear produced by sin, you must
373:21 rise above both fear and sin. Disease is expressed not
so much by the lips as in the functions of the body. Es-
tablish the scientific sense of health, and you relieve the
373:24 oppressed organ. The inflammation, decomposition, or
deposit will abate, and the disabled organ will resume its
healthy functions.
Mind circulates blood
373:27 When the blood rushes madly through the veins or
languidly creeps along its frozen channels, we call these
conditions disease. This is a misconception.
373:30 Mortal mind is producing the propulsion or the
languor, and we prove this to be so when by mental means
the circulation is changed, and returns to that standard
374:1 which mortal mind has decided upon as essential for
health. Anodynes, counter-irritants, and depletion never
374:3 reduce inflammation scientifically, but the truth of being,
whispered into the ear of mortal mind, will bring relief.
Mind can destroy all ills
Hatred and its effects on the body are removed by
374:6 Love. Because mortal mind seems to be conscious, the
sick say: "How can my mind cause a disease
I never thought of and knew nothing about,
374:9 until it appeared on my body?" The author has an-
swered this question in her explanation of disease as origi-
nating in human belief before it is consciously apparent
374:12 on the body, which is in fact the objective state of mortal
mind, though it is called matter. This mortal blindness
and its sharp consequences show our need of divine meta-
374:15 physics. Through immortal Mind, or Truth, we can
destroy all ills which proceed from mortal mind.
Ignorance of the cause or approach of disease is no
374:18 argument against the mental origin of disease. You con-
fess to ignorance of the future and incapacity to preserve
your own existence, and this belief helps rather than
374:21 hinders disease. Such a state of mind induces sickness.
It is like walking in darkness on the edge of a precipice.
You cannot forget the belief of danger, and your steps
374:24 are less firm because of your fear, and ignorance of mental
cause and effect.
Temperature is mental
Heat and cold are products of mortal mind. The body,
374:27 when bereft of mortal mind, at first cools, and after-
wards it is resolved into its primitive mortal
elements. Nothing that lives ever dies, and
374:30 /vice versa/. Mortal mind produces animal heat, and then
expels it through the abandonment of a belief, or in-
creases it to the point of self-destruction. Hence it is
375:1 mortal mind, not matter, which says, "I die." Heat
would pass from the body as painlessly as gas dissipates
375:3 into the air when it evaporates but for the belief that in-
flammation and pain must accompany the separation of
heat from the body.
Science /versus /hypnotism
375:6 Chills and heat are often the form in which fever mani-
fests itself. Change the mental state, and the chills and
fever disappear. The old-school physician
375:9 proves this when his patient says, " I am better,"
but the patient believes that matter, not mind,
has helped him. The Christian Scientist demonstrates
375:12 that divine Mind heals, while the hypnotist dispossesses
the patient of his individuality in order to control him.
No person is benefited by yielding his mentality to any
375:15 mental despotism or malpractice. All unscientific mental
practice is erroneous and powerless, and should be under-
stood and so rendered fruitless. The genuine Christian
375:18 Scientist is adding to his patient's mental and moral power,
and is increasing his patient's spirituality while restoring
him physically through divine Love.
Cure for palsy
375:21 Palsy is a belief that matter governs mortals, and can
paralyze the body, making certain portions of
it motionless. Destroy the belief, show mortal
375:24 mind that muscles have no power to be lost, for Mind is
supreme, and you cure the palsy.
Latent fear diagnosed
Consumptive patients always show great hopeful-
375:27 ness and courage, even when they are supposed to be in
hopeless danger. This state of mind seems
anomalous except to the expert in Christian
375:30 Science. This mental state is not understood, simply
because it is a stage of fear so excessive that it amounts
to fortitude. The belief in consumption presents to mor-
376:1 tal thought a hopeless state, an image more terrifying than
that of most other diseases. The patient turns involun-
376:3 tarily from the contemplation of it, but though unacknowl-
edged, the latent fear and the despair of recovery remain
in thought.
Insidious concepts
376:6 Just so is it with the greatest sin. It is the most subtle,
and does its work almost self-deceived. The diseases
deemed dangerous sometimes come from the
376:9 most hidden, undefined, and insidious beliefs.
The pallid invalid, whom you declare to be wasting away
with consumption of the blood, should be told that blood
376:12 never gave life and can never take it away, - that Life is
Spirit, and that there is more life and immortality in one
good motive and act, than in all the blood which ever
376:15 flowed through mortal veins and simulated a corporeal
sense of life.
Remedy for fever
If the body is material, it cannot, for that very reason,
376:18 suffer with a fever. Because the so-called material body
is a mental concept and governed by mortal
mind, it manifests only what that so-called
376:21 mind expresses. Therefore the efficient remedy is to
destroy the patient's false belief by both silently and au-
dibly arguing the true facts in regard to harmonious
376:24 being, - representing man as healthy instead of diseased,
and showing that it is impossible for matter to suffer, to
feel pain or heat, to be thirsty or sick. Destroy fear,
376:27 and you end fever. Some people, mistaught as to Mind-
science, inquire when it will be safe to check a fever.
Know that in Science you cannot check a fever after ad-
376:30 mitting that it must have its course. To fear and admit
the power of disease, is to paralyze mental and scientific
demonstration.
377:1 If your patient believes in taking cold, mentally con-
vince him that matter cannot take cold, and that thought
377:3 governs this liability. If grief causes suffering, convince
the sufferer that affliction is often the source of joy, and
that he should rejoice always in ever-present Love.
Climate harmless
377:6 Invalids flee to tropical climates in order to save their
lives, but they come back no better than when they went
away. Then is the time to cure them through
377:9 Christian Science, and prove that they can
be healthy in all climates, when their fear of climate is
exterminated.
Mind governs body
377:12 Through different states of mind, the body becomes
suddenly weak or abnormally strong, showing mortal
mind to be the producer of strength or weak-
377:15 ness. A sudden joy or grief has caused what
is termed instantaneous death. Because a belief origi-
nates unseen, the mental state should be continually
377:18 watched that it may not produce blindly its bad effects.
The author never knew a patient who did not recover
when the belief of the disease had gone. Remove the
377:21 leading error or governing fear of this lower so-called mind,
and you remove the cause of all disease as well as the mor-
bid or excited action of any organ. You also remove in
377:24 this way what are termed organic diseases as readily as
functional difficulties.
The cause of all so-called disease is mental, a mortal
377:27 fear, a mistaken belief or conviction of the necessity and
power of ill-health; also a fear that Mind is helpless to
defend the life of man and incompetent to control it. With-
377:30 out this ignorant human belief, any circumstance is of it-
self powerless to produce suffering. It is latent belief in
disease, as well as the fear of disease, which associates sick-
378:1 ness with certain circumstances and causes the two to
appear conjoined, even as poetry and music are repro-
378:3 duced in union by human memory. Disease has no in-
telligence. Unwittingly you sentence yourself to suffer.
The understanding of this will enable you to commute this
378:6 self-sentence, and meet every circumstance with truth.
Disease is less than mind, and Mind can control it.
Latent power
Without the so-called human mind, there can be no
378:9 inflammatory nor torpid action of the system. Remove
the error, and you destroy its effects. By
looking a tiger fearlessly in the eye, Sir Charles
378:12 Napier sent it cowering back into the jungle. An ani-
mal may infuriate another by looking it in the eye, and
both will fight for nothing. A man's gaze, fastened
378:15 fearlessly on a ferocious beast, often causes the beast to
retreat in terror. This latter occurrence represents the
power of Truth over error, - the might of intelligence
378:18 exercised over mortal beliefs to destroy them; whereas
hypnotism and hygienic drilling and drugging, adopted
to cure matter, is represented by two material erroneous
378:21 bases.
Disease powerless
Disease is not an intelligence to dispute the empire of
Mind or to dethrone Mind and take the government into
378:24 its own hands. Sickness is not a God-given,
nor a self-constituted material power, which
copes astutely with Mind and finally conquers it. God
378:27 never endowed matter with power to disable Life or to
chill harmony with a long and cold night of discord.
Such a power, without the divine permission, is incon-
378:30 ceivable; and if such a power could be divinely directed,
it would manifest less wisdom than we usually find dis-
played in human governments.
Jurisdiction of Mind
379:1 If disease can attack and control the body without
the consent of mortals, sin can do the same, for both
379:3 are errors, announced as partners in the be-
ginning. The Christian Scientist finds only
effects, where the ordinary physician looks for causes.
379:6 The real jurisdiction of the world is in Mind, controlling
every effect and recognizing all causation as vested in
divine Mind.
Power of imagination
379:9 A felon, on whom certain English students experi-
mented, fancied himself bleeding to death, and died be-
cause of that belief, when only a stream of
379:12 warm water was trickling over his arm. Had
he known his sense of bleeding was an illusion, he would
have risen above the false belief. Let the despairing in-
379:15 valid, inspecting the hue of her blood on a cambric hand-
kerchief, think of the experiment of those Oxford boys,
who caused the death of a man, when not a drop of his
379:18 blood was shed. Then let her learn the opposite state-
ment of life as taught in Christian Science, and she will
understand that she is not dying on account of the state of
379:21 her blood, but is suffering from her belief that blood is
destroying her life. The so-called vital current does not
affect the invalid's health, but her belief produces the
379:24 very results she dreads.
Fevers the effect of fear
Fevers are errors of various types. The quickened
pulse, coated tongue, febrile heat, dry skin, pain in the
379:27 head and limbs, are pictures drawn on the
body by a mortal mind. The images, held in
this disturbed mind, frighten conscious thought. Unless
379:30 the fever-picture, drawn by millions of mortals and im-
aged on the body through the belief that mind is in matter
and discord is as real as harmony, is destroyed through
380:1 Science, it may rest at length on some receptive thought,
and become a fever case, which ends in a belief called
380:3 death, which belief must be finally conquered by eternal
Life. Truth is always the victor. Sickness and sin fall
by their own weight. Truth is the rock of ages, the head-
380:6 stone of the corner, "but on whomsoever it shall fall, it
will grind him to powder."
Misdirected contention
Contending for the evidence or indulging the demands
380:9 of sin, disease, or death, we virtually contend against
the control of Mind over body, and deny the
power of Mind to heal. This false method
380:12 is as though the defendant should argue for the plaintiff
in favor of a decision which the defendant knows will
be turned against himself.
Benefits of metaphysics
380:15 The physical effects of fear illustrate its illusion. Gaz-
ing at a chained lion, crouched for a spring, should not
terrify a man. The body is affected only with
380:18 the belief of disease produced by a so-called
mind ignorant of the truth which chains disease. Noth-
ing but the power of Truth can prevent the fear of
380:21 error, and prove man's dominion over error.
A higher discovery
Many years ago the author made a spiritual discov-
ery, the scientific evidence of which has accumulated to
380:24 prove that the divine Mind produces in man
health, harmony, and immortality. Gradu-
ally this evidence will gather momentum and clearness,
380:27 until it reaches its culmination of scientific statement and
proof. Nothing is more disheartening than to believe
that there is a power opposite to God, or good, and that
380:30 God endows this opposing power with strength to be used
against Himself, against Life, health, harmony.
Ignorance of our rights
Every law of matter or the body, supposed to govern
381:1 man, is rendered null and void by the law of Life, God.
Ignorant of our God-given rights, we submit to unjust
381:3 decrees, and the bias of education enforces
this slavery. Be no more willing to suffer the
illusion that you are sick or that some disease is develop-
381:6 ing in the system, than you are to yield to a sinful temp-
tation on the ground that sin has its necessities.
No laws of matter
When infringing some supposed law, you say that
381:9 there is danger. This fear is the danger and induces the
physical effects. We cannot in reality suffer
from breaking anything except a moral or
381:12 spiritual law. The so-called laws of mortal belief are
destroyed by the understanding that Soul is immortal,
and that mortal mind cannot legislate the times, periods,
381:15 and types of disease, with which mortals die. God is the
lawmaker, but He is not the author of barbarous codes.
In infinite Life and Love there is no sickness, sin, nor
381:18 death, and the Scriptures declare that we live, move, and
have our being in the infinite God.
God-given dominion
Think less of the enactments of mortal mind, and you
381:21 will sooner grasp man's God-given dominion. You must
understand your way out of human theories
relating to health, or you will never believe
381:24 that you are quite free from some ailment. The har-
mony and immortality of man will never be reached
without the understanding that Mind is not in matter.
381:27 Let us banish sickness as an outlaw, and abide by the
rule of perpetual harmony, - God's law. It is man's
moral right to annul an unjust sentence, a sentence never
381:30 inflicted by divine authority.
Begin rightly
Christ Jesus overruled the error which would impose
penalties for transgressions of the physical laws of
382:1 health; he annulled supposed laws of matter, opposed
to the harmonies of Spirit, lacking divine au-
382:3 thority and having only human approval for
their sanction.
Hygiene excessive
If half the attention given to hygiene were given to the
382:6 study of Christian Science and to the spiritualization of
thought, this alone would usher in the millen-
inium. Constant bathing and rubbing to alter
382:9 the secretions or to remove unhealthy exhalations from
the cuticle receive a useful rebuke from Jesus' precept,
"Take no thought . . . for the body." We must beware
382:12 of making clean merely the outside of the platter.
Blissful ignorance
He, who is ignorant of what is termed hygienic law, is
more receptive of spiritual power and of faith in one
382:15 God, than is the devotee of supposed hygienic
law, who comes to teach the so-called igno-
rant one. Must we not then consider the so-called law
382:18 of matter a canon "more honored in the breach than
the observance"? A patient thoroughly booked in medi-
cal theories is more difficult to heal through Mind than
382:21 one who is not. This verifies the saying of our Master:
"Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a
little child, shall in no wise enter therein."
382:24 One whom I rescued from seeming spiritual oblivion,
in which the senses had engulfed him, wrote to me: "I
should have died, but for the glorious Principle you teach,
382:27 - supporting the power of Mind over the body and show-
ing me the nothingness of the so-called pleasures and pains
of sense. The treatises I had read and the medicines I
382:30 had taken only abandoned me to more hopeless suffering
and despair. Adherence to hygiene was useless. Mortal
mind needed to be set right. The ailment was not bodily,
383:1 but mental, and I was cured when I learned my way in
Christian Science."
A clean mind and body
383:3 We need a clean body and a clean mind, - a body
rendered pure by Mind as well as washed by water.
One says: "I take good care of my body."
383:6 To do this, the pure and exalting influence of
the divine Mind on the body is requisite, and the Christian
Scientist takes the best care of his body when he leaves
383:9 it most out of his thought, and, like the Apostle Paul, is
"willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be pres-
ent with the Lord."
383:12 A hint may be taken from the emigrant, whose filth
does not affect his happiness, because mind and body
rest on the same basis. To the mind equally gross, dirt
383:15 gives no uneasiness. It is the native element of such a
mind, which is symbolized, and not chafed, by its sur-
roundings; but impurity and uncleanliness, which do
383:18 not trouble the gross, could not be borne by the refined.
This shows that the mind must be clean to keep the body
in proper condition.
Beliefs illusive
383:21 The tobacco-user, eating or smoking poison for half a
century, sometimes tells you that the weed preserves
his health, but does this make it so? Does his
383:24 assertion prove the use of tobacco to be a salu-
brious habit, and man to be the better for it? Such in-
stances only prove the illusive physical effect of a false
383:27 belief, confirming the Scriptural conclusion concerning a
man, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he."
The movement-cure - pinching and pounding the poor
383:30 body, to make it sensibly well when it ought to be in-
sensibly so - is another medical mistake, resulting from
the common notion that health depends on inert matter
384:1 instead of on Mind. Can matter, or what is termed
matter, either feel or act without mind?
Corporeal penalties
384:3 We should relieve our minds from the depressing thought
that we have transgressed a material law and must of
necessity pay the penalty. Let us reassure
384:6 ourselves with the law of Love. God never
punishes man for doing right, for honest labor, or for
deeds of kindness, though they expose him to fatigue,
384:9 cold, heat, contagion. If man seems to incur the penalty
through matter, this is but a belief of mortal mind, not
an enactment of wisdom, and man has only to enter his
384:12 protest against this belief in order to annul it. Through
this action of thought and its results upon the body, the
student will prove to himself, by small beginnings, the
384:15 grand verities of Christian Science.
Not matter, but Mind
If exposure to a draught of air while in a state of
perspiration is followed by chills, dry cough, influenza,
384:18 congestive symptoms in the lungs, or hints of
inflammatory rheumatism, your Mind-remedy
is safe and sure. If you are a Christian Scientist, such
384:21 symptoms are not apt to follow exposure; but if you
believe in laws of matter and their fatal effects when
transgressed, you are not fit to conduct your own case or
384:24 to destroy the bad effects of your belief. When the fear
subsides and the conviction abides that you have broken
no law, neither rheumatism, consumption, nor any other
384:27 disease will ever result from exposure to the weather. In
Science this is an established fact which all the evidence
before the senses can never overrule.
Benefit of philanthropy
384:30 Sickness, sin, and death must at length quail before
the divine rights of intelligence, and then the power
of Mind over the entire functions and organs of the
385:1 human system will be acknowledged. It is proverbial
that Florence Nightingale and other philanthropists en-
385:3 gaged in humane labors have been able to
undergo without sinking fatigues and expo-
sures which ordinary people could not endure. The ex-
385:6 planation lies in the support which they derived from
the divine law, rising above the human. The spiritual
demand, quelling the material, supplies energy and en-
385:9 durance surpassing all other aids, and forestalls the
penalty which our beliefs would attach to our best
deeds. Let us remember that the eternal law of right,
385:12 though it can never annul the law which makes sin its
own executioner, exempts man from all penalties but
those due for wrong-doing.
Honest toil has no penalty
385:15 Constant toil, deprivations, exposures, and all untow-
ard conditions, /if without sin/, can be experienced with-
out suffering. Whatever it is your duty to do,
385:18 you can do without harm to yourself. If you
sprain the muscles or wound the flesh, your
remedy is at hand. Mind decides whether or not the
385:21 flesh shall be discolored, painful, swollen, and inflamed.
Our sleep and food
You say that you have not slept well or have overeaten.
You are a law unto yourself. Saying this and believing
385:24 it, you will suffer in proportion to your belief
and fear. Your sufferings are not the penalty
for having broken a law of matter, for it is a law of mortal
385:27 mind which you have disobeyed. You say or think, be-
cause you have partaken of salt fish, that you must be
thirsty, and you are thirsty accordingly, while the oppo-
385:30 site belief would produce the opposite result.
Doubtful evidence
Any supposed information, coming from the body or
from inert matter as if either were intelligent, is an illu-
386:1 sion of mortal mind, - one of its dreams. Realize that
the evidence of the senses is not to be accepted
386:3 in the case of sickness, any more than it is in
the case of sin.
Climate and belief
Expose the body to certain temperatures, and belief
386:6 says that you may catch cold and have catarrh; but no
such result occurs without mind to demand
it and produce it. So long as mortals declare
386:9 that certain states of the atmosphere produce catarrh,
fever, rheumatism, or consumption, those effects will
follow, - not because of the climate, but on account of
386:12 the belief. The author has in too many instances healed
disease through the action of Truth on the minds of mor-
tals, and the corresponding effects of Truth on the body,
386:15 not to know that this is so.
Erroneous despatch
A blundering despatch, mistakenly announcing the
death of a friend, occasions the same grief that the friend's
386:18 real death would bring. You think that your
anguish is occasioned by your loss. Another
despatch, correcting the mistake, heals your grief, and
386:21 you learn that your suffering was merely the result of
your belief. Thus it is with all sorrow, sickness, and
death. You will learn at length that there is no cause
386:24 for grief, and divine wisdom will then be understood.
Error, not Truth, produces all the suffering on earth.
Mourning causeless
If a Christian Scientist had said, while you were labor-
386:27 ing under the influence of the belief of grief, "Your sor-
row is without cause," you would not have
understood him, although the correctness of
386:30 the assertion might afterwards be proved to you. So,
when our friends pass from our sight and we lament,
that lamentation is needless and causeless. We shall
387:1 perceive this to be true when we grow into the under-
standing of Life, and know that there is no death.
Mind heals brain-disease
387:3 Because mortal mind is kept active, must it pay the
penalty in a softened brain? Who dares to say that actual
Mind can be overworked? When we reach
387:6 our limits of mental endurance, we conclude
that intellectual labor has been carried sufficiently far;
but when we realize that immortal Mind is ever active,
387:9 and that spiritual energies can neither wear out nor can
so-called material law trespass upon God-given powers
and resources, we are able to rest in Truth, refreshed by
387:12 the assurances of immortality, opposed to mortality.
Right never punishable
Our thinkers do not die early because they faithfully
perform the natural functions of being. If printers and
387:15 authors have the shortest span of earthly ex-
istence, it is not because they occupy the most
important posts and perform the most vital functions in
387:18 society. That man does not pay the severest penalty
who does the most good. By adhering to the realities of
eternal existence, - instead of reading disquisitions on
387:21 the inconsistent supposition that death comes in obedience
to the law of life, and that God punishes man for doing
good, - one cannot suffer as the result of any labor of
387:24 love, but grows stronger because of it. It is a law of so-
called mortal mind, misnamed matter, which causes all
things discordant.
Christian history
387:27 The history of Christianity furnishes sublime proofs
of the supporting influence and protecting power bestowed
on man by his heavenly Father, omnipotent
387:30 Mind, who gives man faith and understanding
whereby to defend himself, not only from temptation, but
from bodily suffering.
388:1 The Christian martyrs were prophets of Christian
Science. Through the uplifting and consecrating power
388:3 of divine Truth, they obtained a victory over the corpo-
real senses, a victory which Science alone can explain.
Stolidity, which is a resisting state of mortal mind, suffers
388:6 less, only because it knows less of material law.
The Apostle John testified to the divine basis of Chris-
tian Science, when dire inflictions failed to destroy his
388:9 body. Idolaters, believing in more than one mind, had
"gods many," and thought that they could kill the body
with matter, independently of mind.
Sustenance spiritual
388:12 Admit the common hypothesis that food is the nutri-
ment of life, and the follows the necessity for another
admission in the opposite direction, - that
388:15 food has power to destroy Life, God, through
a deficiency or an excess, a quality or a quantity. This
is a specimen of the ambiguous nature of all material
388:18 health-theories. They are self-contradictory and self-de-
structive, constituting a "kingdom divided against itself,"
which is "brought to desolation." If food was prepared
388:21 by Jesus for his disciples, it cannot destroy life.
God sustains man
The fact is, food does not affect the absolute Life of
man, and this becomes self-evident, when we learn that
388:24 God is our Life. Because sin and sickness are
not qualities of Soul, or Life, we have hope in
immortality; but it would be foolish to venture beyond
388:27 our present understanding, foolish to stop eating until
we gain perfection and a clear comprehension of the living
Spirit. In that perfect day of understanding, we shall
388:30 neither eat to live nor live to eat.
Diet and digestion
If mortals think that food disturbs the harmonious
functions of mind and body, either the food or this thought
389:1 must be dispensed with, for the penalty is coupled with
the belief. Which shall it be? If this decision be left
389:3 to Christian Science, it will be given in behalf
of the control of Mind over this belief and every
erroneous belief, or material condition. The less we
389:6 know or think about hygiene, the less we are predisposed
to sickness. Recollect that it is not the nerves, not mat-
ter, but mortal mind, which reports food as undigested.
389:9 Matter does not inform you of bodily derangements; it
is supposed to do so. This pseudo-mental testimony can
be destroyed only by the better results of Mind's oppo-
389:12 site evidence.
Scripture rebukes
Our dietetic theories first admit that food sustains the
life of man, and then discuss the certainty that food can
389:15 kill man. This false reasoning is rebuked in
Scripture by the metaphors about the fount
and stream, the tree and its fruit, and the kingdom di-
389:18 vided against itself. If God has, as prevalent theories
maintain, instituted laws that food shall support human
life, He cannot annul these regulations by an opposite
389:21 law that food shall be inimical to existence.
Ancient confusion
Materialists contradict their own statements. Their
belief in material laws and in penalties for their infrac-
389:24 tion is the ancient error that there is fraternity
between pain and pleasure, good and evil, God
and Satan. This belief totters to its falling before the
389:27 battle-axe of Science.
A case of convulsions, produced by indigestion, came
under my observation. In her belief the woman had
389:30 chronic liver-complaint, and was then suffering from a
complication of symptoms connected with this belief. I
cured her in a few minutes. One instant she spoke de-
390:1 spairingly of herself. The next minute she said, "My
food is all digested, and I should like something more
390:3 to eat."
Ultimate harmony
We cannot deny that Life is self-sustained, and we
should never deny the everlasting harmony of Soul, sim-
390:6 ply because, to the mortal senses, there is seem-
ing discord. It is our ignorance of God, the
divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and
390:9 the right understanding of Him restores harmony. Truth
will at length compel us all to exchange the pleasures and
pains of sense for the joys of Soul.
Unnecessary prostration
390:12 When the first symptoms of disease appear, dispute the
testimony of the material senses with divine Science. Let
your higher sense of justice destroy the false
390:15 process of mortal opinions which you name
law, and then you will not be confined to a sick-room nor
laid upon a bed of suffering in payment of the last far-
390:18 thing, the last penalty demanded by error. "Agree with
thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with
him." Suffer no claim of sin or of sickness to grow upon
390:21 the thought. Dismiss it with an abiding conviction that
it is illegitimate, because you know that God is no more
the author of sickness than He is of sin. You have no
390:24 law of His to support the necessity either of sin or sick-
ness, but you have divine authority for denying that neces-
sity and healing the sick.
Treatment of disease
390:27 "Agree to disagree" with approaching symptoms of
chronic or acute disease, whether it is cancer, consump-
tion, or smallpox. Meet the incipient stages
390:30 of disease with as powerful mental opposi-
tion as a legislator would employ to defeat the passage of
an inhuman law. Rise in the conscious strength of the
391:1 spirit of Truth to overthrow the plea of mortal mind,
/alias/ matter, arrayed against the supremacy of Spirit.
391:3 Blot out the images of mortal thought and its beliefs in
sickness and sin. Then, when thou art delivered to the
judgment of Truth, Christ, the judge will say, "Thou
391:6 art whole!"
Righteous rebellion
Instead of blind and calm submission to the incipient
or advanced stages of disease, rise in rebellion against
391:9 them. Banish the belief that you can possi-
bly entertain a single intruding pain which can-
not be ruled out by the might of Mind, and in this way
391:12 you can prevent the development of pain in the body.
No law of God hinders this result. It is error to suffer
for aught but your own sins. Christ, or Truth, will de-
391:15 stroy all other supposed suffering, and real suffering for
your own sins will cease in proportion as the sin ceases.
Contradict error
Justice is the moral signification of law. Injustice de-
391:18 clares the absence of law. When the body is supposed
to say, "I am sick," never plead guilty. Since
matter cannot talk, it must be mortal mind
391:21 which speaks; therefore meet the intimation with a pro-
test. If you say, "I am sick," you plead guilty. Then
your adversary will deliver you to the judge (mortal
391:24 mind), and the judge will sentence you. Disease has
no intelligence to declare itself something and announce
its name. Mortal mind alone sentences itself. Therefore
391:27 make your own terms with sickness, and be just to yourself
and to others.
Sin to be overcome
Mentally contradict every complaint from the body,
391:30 and rise to the true consciousness of Life as
Love, - as all that is pure, and bearing the
fruits of Spirit. Fear is the fountain of sickness,
392:1 and you master fear and sin through divine Mind; hence
it is through divine Mind that you overcome disease.
392:3 Only while fear or sin remains can it bring forth death.
To cure a bodily ailment, every broken moral law should
be taken into account and the error be rebuked. Fear,
392:6 which is an element of all disease, must be cast out to
readjust the balance for God. Casting out evil and fear
enables truth to outweigh error. The only course is to
392:9 take antagonistic grounds against all that is opposed to
the health, holiness, and harmony of man, God's image.
Illusions about nerves
The physical affirmation of disease should always be
392:12 met with the mental negation. Whatever benefit is pro-
duced on the body, must be expressed men-
tally, and thought should be held fast to this
392:15 ideal. If you believe in inflamed and weak nerves, you
are liable to an attack from that source. You will call it
neuralgia, but we call it a belief. If you think that con-
392:18 sumption is hereditary in your family, you are liable to
the development of that thought in the form of what is
termed pulmonary disease, unless Science shows you
392:21 otherwise. If you decide that climate or atmosphere is
unhealthy, it will be so to you. Your decisions will mas-
ter you, whichever direction they take.
Guarding the door
392:24 Reverse the case. Stand porter at the door of thought.
Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in
bodily results, you will control yourself har-
392:27 moniously. When the condition is present
which you say induces disease, whether it be air, exercise,
heredity, contagion, or accident, then perform your office
392:30 as porter and shut out these unhealthy thoughts and fears.
Exclude from mortal mind the offending errors; then the
body cannot suffer from them. The issues of pain or
393:1 pleasure must come through mind, and like a watchman
forsaking his post, we admit the intruding belief, forget-
393:3 ting that through divine help we can forbid this entrance.
The strength of Spirit
The body seems to be self-acting, only because mortal
mind is ignorant of itself, of its own actions, and of their
393:6 results, - ignorant that the predisposing, re-
mote, and exciting cause of all bad effects is a
law of so-called mortal mind, not of matter. Mind is the
393:9 master of the corporeal senses, and can conquer sickness,
sin, and death. Exercise this God-given authority. Take
possession of your body, and govern its feeling and action.
393:12 Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike
good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing
can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on
393:15 man.
No pain in matter
Be firm in your understanding that the divine Mind
governs, and that in Science man reflects God's govern-
393:18 ment. Have no fear that matter can ache,
swell, and be inflamed as the result of a law
of any kind, when it is self-evident that matter can have
393:21 no pain nor inflammation. Your body would suffer no
more from tension or wounds than the trunk of a tree
which you gash or the electric wire which you stretch,
393:24 were it not for mortal mind.
When Jesus declares that "the light of the body is the
eye," he certainly means that light depends upon Mind,
393:27 not upon the complex humors, lenses, muscles, the iris
and pupil, constituting the visual organism.
No real disease
Man is never sick, for Mind is not sick and matter
393:30 cannot be. A false belief is both the tempter
and the tempted, the sin and the sinner, the
disease and its cause. It is well to be calm in sickness;
394:1 to be hopeful is still better; but to understand that sick-
ness is not real and that Truth can destroy its seeming
394:3 reality, is best of all, for this understanding is the uni-
versal and perfect remedy.
Recuperation mental
By conceding power to discord, a large majority of
394:6 doctors depress mental energy, which is the only real
recuperative power. Knowledge that we
can accomplish the good we hope for, stimu-
394:9 lates the system to act in the direction which Mind points
out. The admission that any bodily condition is beyond
the control of Mind disarms man, prevents him from
394:12 helping himself, and enthrones matter through error. To
those struggling with sickness, such admissions are dis-
couraging, - as much so as would be the advice to a man
394:15 who is down in the world, that he should not try to rise
above his difficulties.
Experience has proved to the author the fallacy of
394:18 material systems in general, - that their theories are
sometimes pernicious, and that their denials are better
than their affirmations. Will you bid a man let evils
394:21 overcome him, assuring him that all misfortunes are from
God, against whom mortals should not contend? Will
you tell the sick that their condition is hopeless, unless it
394:24 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,
394:27 with Truth and Love?
Arguing wrongly
We should remember that Life is God, and that God
is omnipotent. Not understanding Christian
394:30 Science, the sick usually have little faith in
it till they feel its beneficent influence. This shows
that faith is not the healer in such cases. The sick
395:1 unconsciously argue for suffering, instead of against it.
They admit its reality, whereas they should deny it.
395:3 They should plead in opposition to the testimony of the
deceitful senses, and maintain man's immortality and
eternal likeness to God.
Divine authority
395:6 Like the great Exemplar, the healer should speak to
disease as one having authority over it, leaving Soul to
master the false evidences of the corporeal
395:9 senses and to assert its claims over mortal-
ity and disease. The same Principle cures both sin and
sickness. When divine Science overcomes faith in a car-
395:12 nal mind, and faith in God destroys all faith in sin and in
material methods of healing, then sin, disease, and death
will disappear.
Aids in sickness
395:15 Prayers, in which God is not asked to heal but is be-
sought to take the patient to Himself, do not benefit the
sick. An ill-tempered, complaining, or deceit-
395:18 ful person should not be a nurse. The nurse
should be cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of
faith, - receptive to Truth and Love.
Mental quackery
395:21 It is mental quackery to make disease a reality - to
hold it as something seen and felt - and then to attempt
its cure through Mind. It is no less erroneous
395:24 to believe in the real existence of a tumor, a
cancer, or decayed lungs, while you argue against their
reality, than it is for your patient to feel these ills in
395:27 physical belief. Mental practice, which holds disease
as a reality, fastens disease on the patient, and it may
appear in a more alarming form.
Effacing images of disease
395:30 The knowledge that brain-lobes cannot kill a man nor
affect the functions of mind would prevent the brain from
becoming diseased, though a moral offence is indeed the
396:1 worst of diseases. One should never hold in mind
the thought of disease, but should efface from
396:3 thought all forms and types of disease, both for
one's own sake and for that of the patient.
Avoid talking disease
Avoid talking illness to the patient. Make no unne-
396:6 cessary inquiries relative to feelings or disease. Never
startle with a discouraging remark about re-
covery, nor draw attention to certain symp-
396:9 toms as unfavorable, avoid speaking aloud the name of
the disease. Never say beforehand how much you have
to contend with in a case, nor encourage in the patient's
396:12 thought the expectation of growing worse before a crisis
is passed.
False testimony refuted
The refutation of the testimony of material sense is
396:15 not a difficult task in view of the conceded falsity of this
testimony. The refutation becomes arduous,
not because the testimony of sin or disease is
396:18 true, but solely on account of the tenacity of belief in its
truth, due to the force of education and the overwhelm-
ing weight of opinions on the wrong side, - all teaching
396:21 that the body suffers, as if matter could have sensation.
Healthful explanation
At the right time explain to the sick the power which
their beliefs exercise over their bodies. Give them divine
396:24 and wholesome understanding, with which to
combat their erroneous sense, and so efface the
images of sickness from mortal mind. Keep distinctly in
396:27 thought that man is the offspring of God, not of man;
that man is spiritual, not material; that Soul is Spirit,
outside of matter, never in it, never giving the body life
396:30 and sensation. It breaks the dream of disease to under-
stand that sickness is formed by the human mind, not by
matter nor by the divine Mind.
Misleading methods
397:1 By not perceiving vital metaphysical points, not seeing
how mortal mind affects the body, - acting beneficially
397:3 or injuriously on the health, as well as on the
morals and the happiness of mortals, - we are
misled in our conclusions and methods. We throw the
397:6 mental influence on the wrong side, thereby actually in-
juring those whom we mean to bless.
Remedy for accidents
Suffering is no less a mental condition than is enjoy-
397:9 ment. You cause bodily sufferings and increase them
by admitting their reality and continuance,
as directly as you enhance your joys by be-
397:12 lieving them to be real and continuous. When an ac-
cident happens, you think or exclaim, "I am hurt!"
Your thought is more powerful than your words, more
397:15 powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury
real.
Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt
397:18 and understand the reason why, and you will find the
ensuing good effects to be in exact proportion to your
disbelief in physics, and your fidelity to divine meta-
397:21 physics, confidence in God as All, which the Scriptures
declare Him to be.
Independent mentality
To heal the sick, one must be familiar with the great
397:24 verities of being. Mortals are no more material in their
waking hours than when they act, walk, see,
hear, enjoy, or suffer in dreams. We can
397:27 never treat mortal mind and matter separately, because
they combine as one. Give up the belief that mind
is, even temporarily, compressed within the skull, and
397:30 you will quickly become more manly or womanly. You
will understand yourself and your Maker better than
before.
Naming maladies
398:1 Sometimes Jesus called a disease by name, as when he
said to the epileptic boy, "Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I
398:3 charge thee, come out of him, and enter no
more into him." It is added that "the spirit
[error] cried, and rent him sore and came out of him, and
398:6 he was as one dead," - clear evidence that the malady
was not material. These instances show the concessions
which Jesus was willing to make to the popular ignorance
398:9 of spiritual Life-laws. Often he gave no name to the
distemper he cured. To the synagogue ruler's daughter,
whom they called dead but of whom he said, "she is not
398:12 dead, but sleepeth," he simply said, "Damsel, I say unto
thee, arise!" To the sufferer with the withered hand
he said, "Stretch forth thine hand," and it "was restored
398:15 whole, like as the other."
The action of faith
Homoeopathic remedies, sometimes not containing a
particle of medicine, are known to relieve the symptoms
398:18 of disease. What produces the change? It is
the faith of the doctor and the patient, which
reduces self-inflicted sufferings and produces a new effect
398:21 upon the body. In like manner destroy the illusion of
pleasure in intoxication, and the desire for strong drink
is gone. Appetite and disease reside in mortal mind, not
398:24 in matter.
So also faith, cooperating with a belief in the healing
effects of time and medication, will soothe fear and change
398:27 the belief of disease to a belief of health. Even a blind
faith removes bodily ailments for a season, but hypnotism
changes such ills into new and more difficult forms of dis-
398:30 ease. The Science of Mind must come to the rescue,
to work a radical cure. Then we understand the process.
The great fact remains that evil is not mind. Evil has
399:1 no power, no intelligence, for God is good, and therefore
good is infinite, is All.
Corporeal combinations
399:3 You say that certain material combinations produce
disease; but if the material body causes disease, can
matter cure what matter has caused? Mortal
399:6 mind prescribes the drug, and administers it.
Mortal mind plans the exercise, and puts the body through
certain motions. No gastric gas accumulates, not a se-
399:9 cretion nor combination can operate, apart from the
action of mortal thought, /alias /mortal mind.
Automatic mechanism
So-called mortal mind sends its despatches over its
399:12 body, but this so-called mind is both the service and
message of this telegraphy. Nerves are un-
able to talk, and matter can return no an-
399:15 swer to immortal Mind. If Mind is the only actor, how
can mechanism be automatic? Mortal mind perpetuates
its own thought. It constructs a machine, manages it,
399:18 and then calls it material. A mill at work or the action
of a water-wheel is but a derivative from, and continua-
tion of, the primitive mortal mind. Without this force
399:21 the body is devoid of action, and this deadness shows
that so-called mortal life is mortal mind, not matter.
Mental strength
Scientifically speaking, there is no mortal mind out of
399:24 which to make material beliefs, springing from illusion.
This misnamed mind is not an entity. It is
only a false sense of matter, since matter is not
399:27 sensible. The one Mind, God, contains no mortal opin-
ions. All that is real is included in this immortal Mind.
Confirmation in a parable
Our Master asked: "How can one enter into a strong
399:30 man's house and spoil his goods, except he first
bind the strong man?" In other words: How
can I heal the body, without beginning with so-called
400:1 mortal mind, which directly controls the body? When
disease is once destroyed in this so-called mind, the fear
400:3 of disease is gone, and therefore the disease is thor-
oughly cured. Mortal mind is "the strong man," which
must be held in subjection before its influence upon health
400:6 and morals can be removed. This error conquered, we
can despoil "the strong man" of his goods, - namely, of
sin and disease.
Eradicate error from thought
400:9 Mortals obtain the harmony of health, only as they
forsake discord, acknowledge the supremacy of divine
Mind, and abandon their material beliefs.
400:12 Eradicate the image of disease from the per-
turbed thought before it has taken tangible
shape in conscious thought, /alias/ the body, and you pre-
400:15 vent the development of disease. This task becomes easy,
if you understand that every disease is an error, and has
no character nor type, except what mortal mind assigns to
400:18 it. By lifting thought above error, or disease, and con-
tending persistently for truth, you destroy error.
Mortal mind controlled
When we remove disease by addressing the disturbed
400:21 mind, giving no heed to the body, we prove that thought
alone creates the suffering. Mortal mind
rules all that is mortal. We see in the body
400:24 the images of this mind, even as in optics we see painted
on the retina the image which becomes visible to the
senses. The action of so-called mortal mind must be
400:27 destroyed by the divine Mind to bring out the harmony
of being. Without divine control there is discord, mani-
fest as sin, sickness, and death.
Mortal mind not a healer
400:30 The Scriptures plainly declare the baneful influence of
sinful thought on the body. Even our Master felt this.
It is recorded that in certain localities he did not many
401:1 mighty works "because of their unbelief" in Truth. Any
human error is its own enemy, and works against itself;
401:3 it does nothing in the right direction and much
in the wrong. If so-called mind is cherishing
evil passions and malicious purposes, it is not a healer,
401:6 but it engenders disease and death.
Effect of opposites
If faith in the truth of being, which you impart men-
tally while destroying error, causes chemicalization (as
401:9 when an alkali is destroying an acid), it is be-
cause the truth of being must transform the
error to the end of producing a higher manifestation.
401:12 This fermentation should not aggravate the disease, but
should be as painless to man as to a fluid, since matter
has no sensation and mortal mind only feels and sees
401:15 materially.
What I term /chemicalization/ is the upheaval produced
when immortal Truth is destroying erroneous mortal be-
401:18 lief. Mental chemicalization brings sin and sickness to
the surface, forcing impurities to pass away, as is the case
with a fermenting fluid.
Medicine and brain
401:21 The only effect produced by medicine is dependent upon
mental action. If the mind were parted from the body,
could you produce any effect upon the brain
401:24 or body by applying the drug to either? Would
the drug remove paralysis, affect organization, or restore
will and action to cerebrum and cerebellum?
Skilful surgery
401:27 Until the advancing age admits the efficacy and suprem-
acy of Mind, it is better for Christian Scientists to leave
surgery and the adjustment of broken bones
401:30 and dislocations to the fingers of a surgeon,
while the mental healer confines himself chiefly to mental
reconstruction and to the prevention of inflammation.
402:1 Christian Science is always the most skilful surgeon, but
surgery is the branch of its healing which will be last
402:3 acknowledged. However, it is but just to say that the
author has already in her possession well-authenticated
records of the cure, by herself and her students through
402:6 mental surgery alone, of broken bones, dislocated joints,
and spinal vertebrae.