Chapter XII - Christian Science Practice
Matter is not inflamed
415:1
excited state of mortals which is not normal. Immor-
excited state of mortals which is not normal. Immor-
tal Mind is the only cause; therefore disease is neither a
cause nor an effect. Mind in every case is the
eternal God, good. Sin, disease, and death
have no foundations in Truth. Inflamation as a mor-
tal belief quickens or impedes the action of the system,
because thought moves quickly or slowly, leaps or halts
when it contemplates unpleasant things, or when the in-
dividual looks upon some object which he dreads. In-
flammation never appears in a part which mortal thought
does not reach. That is why opiates relieve inflammation.
They quiet the thought by inducing stupefaction and by
resorting to matter instead of to Mind. Opiates do not
remove the pain in any scientific sense. They only ren-
der mortal mind temporarily less fearful, till it can master
an erroneous belief.
Truth calms the thought
415:17
Note how thought makes the face pallid. It either re-
Note how thought makes the face pallid. It either re-
tards the circulation or quickens it, causing a pale or
flushed cheek. In the same way thought in-
creases or diminishes the secretions, the action
of the lungs, of the bowels, and of the heart. The mus-
cles, moving quickly or slowly and impelled or palsied by
thought, represent the action of all the organs of the hu-
man system, including brain and viscera. To remove
the error producing disorder, you must calm and instruct
mortal mind with immortal Truth.
Effects of etherization
415:27
Etherization will apparently cause the body to dis-
Etherization will apparently cause the body to dis-
appear. Before the thoughts are fully at rest, the limbs
will vanish from consciousness. Indeed, the
whole frame will sink from sight along with
surrounding objects, leaving the pain standing forth as
distinctly as a mountain-peak, as if it were a separate
416:1
bodily member. At last the agony also vanishes. This
bodily member. At last the agony also vanishes. This
process shows the pain to be in the mind, for the inflam-
mation is not suppressed; and the belief of pain will
presently return, unless the mental image occasioning
the pain be removed by recognizing the truth of being.
Sedatives valueless
416:6
A hypodermic injection of morphine is administered
A hypodermic injection of morphine is administered
to a patient, and in twenty minutes the sufferer is qui-
etly asleep. To him there is no longer any
pain. Yet any physician – allopathic, homoe-
opathic, botanic, eclectic – will tell you that the trouble-
some material cause is unremoved, and that when the
soporific influence of the opium is exhausted, the pa-
tient will find himself in the same pain, unless the belief
which occasions the pain has meanwhile been changed.
Where is the pain while the patient sleeps?
The so-called physical ego
416:16
The material body, which you call me, is mortal mind,
The material body, which you call me, is mortal mind,
and this mind is material in sensation, even as the body,
which has originated from this material sense
and been developed according to it, is mate-
rial. This materialism of parent and child is only in
mortal mind, as the dead body proves; for when the
mortal has resigned his body to dust, the body is no
longer the parent, even in appearance.
Evil thought depletes
416:24
The sick know nothing of the mental process by
The sick know nothing of the mental process by
which they are depleted, and next to nothing of the
metaphysical method by which they can be
healed. If they ask about their disease, tell
them only what is best for them to know. Assure them
that they think too much about their ailments, and
have already heard too much on that subject. Turn
their thoughts away from their bodies to higher ob-
jects. Teach them that their being is sustained by