Chapter XII - Christian Science Practice
Ignorance of our rights
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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
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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
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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
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Christ Jesus overruled the error which would impose
Christ Jesus overruled the error which would impose
penalties for transgressions of the physical laws of
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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
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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
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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."
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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,
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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
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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
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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."
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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-
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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The Christian martyrs were prophets of Christian
The Christian martyrs were prophets of Christian
Science. Through the uplifting and consecrating power
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
less, only because it knows less of material law.
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The Apostle John testified to the divine basis of Chris-
The Apostle John testified to the divine basis of Chris-
tian Science, when dire inflictions failed to destroy his
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
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Admit the common hypothesis that food is the nutri-
Admit the common hypothesis that food is the nutri-
ment of life, and there follows the necessity for another
admission in the opposite direction, – that
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
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
by Jesus for his disciples, it cannot destroy life.
God sustains man
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The fact is, food does not affect the absolute Life of
The fact is, food does not affect the absolute Life of
man, and this becomes self-evident, when we learn that
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
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
neither eat to live nor live to eat.
Diet and digestion
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If mortals think that food disturbs the harmonious
If mortals think that food disturbs the harmonious
functions of mind and body, either the food or this thought
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must be dispensed with, for the penalty is coupled with
must be dispensed with, for the penalty is coupled with
the belief. Which shall it be? If this decision be left
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
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.
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-
site evidence.
Scripture rebukes
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Our dietetic theories first admit that food sustains the
Our dietetic theories first admit that food sustains the
life of man, and then discuss the certainty that food can
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-
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
law that food shall be inimical to existence.
Ancient confusion
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Materialists contradict their own statements. Their
Materialists contradict their own statements. Their
belief in material laws and in penalties for their infrac-
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
battle-axe of Science.
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A case of convulsions, produced by indigestion, came
A case of convulsions, produced by indigestion, came
under my observation. In her belief the woman had
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-
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spairingly of herself. The next minute she said, "My
spairingly of herself. The next minute she said, "My
food is all digested, and I should like something more
to eat."
Ultimate harmony
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We cannot deny that Life is self-sustained, and we
We cannot deny that Life is self-sustained, and we
should never deny the everlasting harmony of Soul, sim-
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
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
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When the first symptoms of disease appear, dispute the
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
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-
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
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
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
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"Agree to disagree" with approaching symptoms of
"Agree to disagree" with approaching symptoms of
chronic or acute disease, whether it is cancer, consump-
tion, or smallpox. Meet the incipient stages
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
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spirit of Truth to overthrow the plea of mortal mind,
spirit of Truth to overthrow the plea of mortal mind,
alias matter, arrayed against the supremacy of Spirit.
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
art whole!"
Righteous rebellion
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Instead of blind and calm submission to the incipient
Instead of blind and calm submission to the incipient
or advanced stages of disease, rise in rebellion against
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
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-
stroy all other supposed suffering, and real suffering for
your own sins will cease in proportion as the sin ceases.
Contradict error
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Justice is the moral signification of law. Injustice de-
Justice is the moral signification of law. Injustice de-
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
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
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
make your own terms with sickness, and be just to yourself
and to others.
Sin to be overcome
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Mentally contradict every complaint from the body,
Mentally contradict every complaint from the body,
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,
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and you master fear and sin through divine Mind; hence
and you master fear and sin through divine Mind; hence
it is through divine Mind that you overcome disease.
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,
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
take antagonistic grounds against all that is opposed to
the health, holiness, and harmony of man, God's image.
Illusions about nerves
392:11
The physical affirmation of disease should always be
The physical affirmation of disease should always be
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
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-
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
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.
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-
moniously. When the condition is present
which you say induces disease, whether it be air, exercise,
heredity, contagion, or accident, then perform your office
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
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pleasure must come through mind, and like a watchman
pleasure must come through mind, and like a watchman
forsaking his post, we admit the intruding belief, forget-
ting that through divine help we can forbid this entrance.
The strength of Spirit
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The body seems to be self-acting, only because mortal
The body seems to be self-acting, only because mortal
mind is ignorant of itself, of its own actions, and of their
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
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.
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
man.
No pain in matter
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Be firm in your understanding that the divine Mind
Be firm in your understanding that the divine Mind
governs, and that in Science man reflects God's govern-
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
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,
were it not for mortal mind.
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When Jesus declares that "the light of the body is the
When Jesus declares that "the light of the body is the
eye," he certainly means that light depends upon Mind,
not upon the complex humors, lenses, muscles, the iris
and pupil, constituting the visual organism.
No real disease
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Man is never sick, for Mind is not sick and matter
Man is never sick, for Mind is not sick and matter
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;
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to be hopeful is still better; but to understand that sick-
to be hopeful is still better; but to understand that sick-
ness is not real and that Truth can destroy its seeming
reality, is best of all, for this understanding is the uni-
versal and perfect remedy.
Recuperation mental
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By conceding power to discord, a large majority of
By conceding power to discord, a large majority of
doctors depress mental energy, which is the only real
recuperative power. Knowledge that we
can accomplish the good we hope for, stimu-
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
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
who is down in the world, that he should not try to rise
above his difficulties.
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Experience has proved to the author the fallacy of
Experience has proved to the author the fallacy of
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
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
can be aided by a drug or climate? Are material means
the only refuge from fatal chances? Is there no divine
permission to conquer discord of every kind with harmony,
with Truth and Love?
Arguing wrongly
394:28
We should remember that Life is God, and that God
We should remember that Life is God, and that God
is omnipotent. Not understanding Christian
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
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unconsciously argue for suffering, instead of against it.
unconsciously argue for suffering, instead of against it.
They admit its reality, whereas they should deny it.
They should plead in opposition to the testimony of the
deceitful senses, and maintain man's immortality and
eternal likeness to God.
Divine authority
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Like the great Exemplar, the healer should speak to
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
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-
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
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Prayers, in which God is not asked to heal but is be-
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-
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
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It is mental quackery to make disease a reality – to
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
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
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
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The knowledge that brain-lobes cannot kill a man nor
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
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worst of diseases. One should never hold in mind
worst of diseases. One should never hold in mind
the thought of disease, but should efface from
thought all forms and types of disease, both for
one's own sake and for that of the patient.
Avoid talking disease
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Avoid talking illness to the patient. Make no unne-
Avoid talking illness to the patient. Make no unne-
cessary inquiries relative to feelings or disease. Never
startle with a discouraging remark about re-
covery, nor draw attention to certain symp-
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
thought the expectation of growing worse before a crisis
is passed.
False testimony refuted
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The refutation of the testimony of material sense is
The refutation of the testimony of material sense is
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
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
that the body suffers, as if matter could have sensation.
Healthful explanation
396:22
At the right time explain to the sick the power which
At the right time explain to the sick the power which
their beliefs exercise over their bodies. Give them divine
and wholesome understanding, with which to
combat their erroneous sense, and so efface the
images of sickness from mortal mind. Keep distinctly in
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
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
By not perceiving vital metaphysical points, not seeing
how mortal mind affects the body, – acting beneficially
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
mental influence on the wrong side, thereby actually in-
juring those whom we mean to bless.
Remedy for accidents
397:8
Suffering is no less a mental condition than is enjoy-
Suffering is no less a mental condition than is enjoy-
ment. You cause bodily sufferings and increase them
by admitting their reality and continuance,
as directly as you enhance your joys by be-
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
powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury
real.
397:17
Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt
Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt
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-
physics, confidence in God as All, which the Scriptures
declare Him to be.
Independent mentality
397:23
To heal the sick, one must be familiar with the great
To heal the sick, one must be familiar with the great
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
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
you will quickly become more manly or womanly. You
will understand yourself and your Maker better than
before.