Chapter XII - Christian Science Practice
Diagnosis of matter
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cover the condition of matter, when in fact all is
cover the condition of matter, when in fact all is
Mind. The body is the substratum of mortal mind,
and this so-called mind must finally yield
to the mandate of immortal Mind.
Ghost-stories inducing fear
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Disquisitions on disease have a mental effect similar
Disquisitions on disease have a mental effect similar
to that produced on children by telling ghost-stories in
the dark. By those uninstructed in Christian
Science, nothing is really understood of material
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
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-
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-
ings which throng the gloaming. The way in divine
Science is the only way out of this condition.
Mind imparts purity, health, and beauty
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I would not transform the infant at once into a
I would not transform the infant at once into a
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
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-
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-
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,
Remember, brain is not mind. Matter cannot be sick,
and Mind is immortal. The mortal body is only an erro-
neous mortal belief of mind in matter. What
you call matter was originally error in solu-
tion, elementary mortal mind, – likened by Milton to
"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
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,
bind himself with his own beliefs, and then call his bonds
material and name them divine law.
Veritable success
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When man demonstrates Christian Science absolutely,
When man demonstrates Christian Science absolutely,
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-
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,
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
falsely parading in the vestments of law.
Recognition of benefits
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"Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also
"Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also
deny before my Father which is in heaven." In Chris-
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-
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
If we are Christians on all moral questions, but are in
darkness as to the physical exemption which Christian-
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
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
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.
Healing is easier than teaching, if the teaching is faithfully
done.
Love frees from fear
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The fear of disease and the love of sin are the sources
The fear of disease and the love of sin are the sources
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
"perfect Love casteth out fear."
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The fear occasioned by ignorance can be cured; but
The fear occasioned by ignorance can be cured; but
to remove the effects of fear produced by sin, you must
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
oppressed organ. The inflammation, decomposition, or
deposit will abate, and the disabled organ will resume its
healthy functions.
Mind circulates blood
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When the blood rushes madly through the veins or
When the blood rushes madly through the veins or
languidly creeps along its frozen channels, we call these
conditions disease. This is a misconception.
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
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which mortal mind has decided upon as essential for
which mortal mind has decided upon as essential for
health. Anodynes, counter-irritants, and depletion never
reduce inflammation scientifically, but the truth of being,
whispered into the ear of mortal mind, will bring relief.
Mind can destroy all ills
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Hatred and its effects on the body are removed by
Hatred and its effects on the body are removed by
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,
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
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-
physics. Through immortal Mind, or Truth, we can
destroy all ills which proceed from mortal mind.
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Ignorance of the cause or approach of disease is no
Ignorance of the cause or approach of disease is no
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
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
are less firm because of your fear, and ignorance of mental
cause and effect.
Temperature is mental
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Heat and cold are products of mortal mind. The body,
Heat and cold are products of mortal mind. The body,
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
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
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mortal mind, not matter, which says, "I die." Heat
mortal mind, not matter, which says, "I die." Heat
would pass from the body as painlessly as gas dissipates
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-
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
proves this when his patient says, "I am better,"
but the patient believes that matter, not mind,
has helped him. The Christian Scientist demonstrates
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
mental despotism or malpractice. All unscientific mental
practice is erroneous and powerless, and should be under-
stood and so rendered fruitless. The genuine Christian
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
Palsy is a belief that matter governs mortals, and can
paralyze the body, making certain portions of
it motionless. Destroy the belief, show mortal
mind that muscles have no power to be lost, for Mind is
supreme, and you cure the palsy.
Latent fear diagnosed
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Consumptive patients always show great hopeful-
Consumptive patients always show great hopeful-
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
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-
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tal thought a hopeless state, an image more terrifying than
tal thought a hopeless state, an image more terrifying than
that of most other diseases. The patient turns involun-
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,
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
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
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
flowed through mortal veins and simulated a corporeal
sense of life.
Remedy for fever
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If the body is material, it cannot, for that very reason,
If the body is material, it cannot, for that very reason,
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
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
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,
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-
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-
If your patient believes in taking cold, mentally con-
vince him that matter cannot take cold, and that thought
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
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
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
Through different states of mind, the body becomes
suddenly weak or abnormally strong, showing mortal
mind to be the producer of strength or weak-
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
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
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
this way what are termed organic diseases as readily as
functional difficulties.
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The cause of all so-called disease is mental, a mortal
The cause of all so-called disease is mental, a mortal
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-
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
ness with certain circumstances and causes the two to
appear conjoined, even as poetry and music are repro-
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
self-sentence, and meet every circumstance with truth.
Disease is less than mind, and Mind can control it.
Latent power
378:8
Without the so-called human mind, there can be no
Without the so-called human mind, there can be no
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
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
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
exercised over mortal beliefs to destroy them; whereas
hypnotism and hygienic drilling and drugging, adopted
to cure matter, is represented by two material erroneous
bases.
Disease powerless
378:22
Disease is not an intelligence to dispute the empire of
Disease is not an intelligence to dispute the empire of
Mind or to dethrone Mind and take the government into
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
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-
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
If disease can attack and control the body without
the consent of mortals, sin can do the same, for both
are errors, announced as partners in the be-
ginning. The Christian Scientist finds only
effects, where the ordinary physician looks for causes.
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-
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
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-
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
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
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
very results she dreads.
Fevers the effect of fear
379:25
Fevers are errors of various types. The quickened
Fevers are errors of various types. The quickened
pulse, coated tongue, febrile heat, dry skin, pain in the
head and limbs, are pictures drawn on the
body by a mortal mind. The images, held in
this disturbed mind, frighten conscious thought. Unless
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,
Science, it may rest at length on some receptive thought,
and become a fever case, which ends in a belief called
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-
stone of the corner, "but on whomsoever it shall fall, it
will grind him to powder."
Misdirected contention
380:8
Contending for the evidence or indulging the demands
Contending for the evidence or indulging the demands
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
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-
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
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
error, and prove man's dominion over error.
A higher discovery
380:22
Many years ago the author made a spiritual discov-
Many years ago the author made a spiritual discov-
ery, the scientific evidence of which has accumulated to
prove that the divine Mind produces in man
health, harmony, and immortality. Gradu-
ally this evidence will gather momentum and clearness,
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
God endows this opposing power with strength to be used
against Himself, against Life, health, harmony.
Ignorance of our rights
380:32
Every law of matter or the body, supposed to govern
Every law of matter or the body, supposed to govern
381:1
man, is rendered null and void by the law of Life, God.
man, is rendered null and void by the law of Life, God.
Ignorant of our God-given rights, we submit to unjust
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-
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
381:8
When infringing some supposed law, you say that
When infringing some supposed law, you say that
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
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,
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
death, and the Scriptures declare that we live, move, and
have our being in the infinite God.
God-given dominion
381:20
Think less of the enactments of mortal mind, and you
Think less of the enactments of mortal mind, and you
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
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.
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
inflicted by divine authority.
Begin rightly
381:31
Christ Jesus overruled the error which would impose
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
health; he annulled supposed laws of matter, opposed
to the harmonies of Spirit, lacking divine au-
thority and having only human approval for
their sanction.
Hygiene excessive
382:5
If half the attention given to hygiene were given to the
If half the attention given to hygiene were given to the
study of Christian Science and to the spiritualization of
thought, this alone would usher in the millen-
inium. Constant bathing and rubbing to alter
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
of making clean merely the outside of the platter.
Blissful ignorance
382:13
He, who is ignorant of what is termed hygienic law, is
He, who is ignorant of what is termed hygienic law, is
more receptive of spiritual power and of faith in one
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
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
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,
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,
– 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
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
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
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."
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
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."
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A hint may be taken from the emigrant, whose filth
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
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
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
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
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
belief, confirming the Scriptural conclusion concerning a
man, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he."
383:29
The movement-cure – pinching and pounding the poor
The movement-cure – pinching and pounding the poor
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
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
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
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,
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
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
grand verities of Christian Science.
Not matter, but Mind
384:16
If exposure to a draught of air while in a state of
If exposure to a draught of air while in a state of
perspiration is followed by chills, dry cough, influenza,
congestive symptoms in the lungs, or hints of
inflammatory rheumatism, your Mind-remedy
is safe and sure. If you are a Christian Scientist, such
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
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
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
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
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human system will be acknowledged. It is proverbial
human system will be acknowledged. It is proverbial
that Florence Nightingale and other philanthropists en-
gaged in humane labors have been able to
undergo without sinking fatigues and expo-
sures which ordinary people could not endure. The ex-
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-
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,
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-
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,
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
flesh shall be discolored, painful, swollen, and inflamed.
Our sleep and food
385:22
You say that you have not slept well or have overeaten.
You say that you have not slept well or have overeaten.
You are a law unto yourself. Saying this and believing
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
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-
site belief would produce the opposite result.
Doubtful evidence
385:31
Any supposed information, coming from the body or
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
sion of mortal mind, – one of its dreams. Realize that
the evidence of the senses is not to be accepted
in the case of sickness, any more than it is in
the case of sin.
Climate and belief
386:5
Expose the body to certain temperatures, and belief
Expose the body to certain temperatures, and belief
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
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
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,
not to know that this is so.
Erroneous despatch
386:16
A blundering despatch, mistakenly announcing the
A blundering despatch, mistakenly announcing the
death of a friend, occasions the same grief that the friend's
real death would bring. You think that your
anguish is occasioned by your loss. Another
despatch, correcting the mistake, heals your grief, and
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
for grief, and divine wisdom will then be understood.
Error, not Truth, produces all the suffering on earth.
Mourning causeless
386:26
If a Christian Scientist had said, while you were labor-
If a Christian Scientist had said, while you were labor-
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
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-
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
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
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,
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
the assurances of immortality, opposed to mortality.
Right never punishable
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Our thinkers do not die early because they faithfully
Our thinkers do not die early because they faithfully
perform the natural functions of being. If printers and
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
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
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
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
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The history of Christianity furnishes sublime proofs
The history of Christianity furnishes sublime proofs
of the supporting influence and protecting power bestowed
on man by his heavenly Father, omnipotent
Mind, who gives man faith and understanding
whereby to defend himself, not only from temptation, but
from bodily suffering.