Chapter XII - Christian Science Practice
Guarding the door
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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
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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