Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures Part 64

Blight of avarice

445:27 There is great danger in teaching Mind-healing indis- criminately, thus disregarding the morals of the student and caring only for the fees. Recalling Jeffer- 445:30 son's words about slavery, "I tremble, when I remember that G.o.d is just," the author trembles whenever she sees a man, for the petty consideration of money, 446:1 teaching his slight knowledge of Mind-power, - per- haps communicating his own bad morals, and in this way 446:3 dealing pitilessly with a community unprepared for self- defence.

A thorough perusal of the author's publications heals 446:6 sickness. If patients sometimes seem worse while read- ing this book, the change may either arise from the alarm of the physician, or it may mark the crisis of the disease.

446:9 Perseverance in the perusal of the book has generally completely healed such cases.

Exclusion of malpractice

Whoever practises the Science the author teaches, 446:12 through which Mind pours light and healing upon this generation, can practise on no one from sin- ister or malicious motives without destroying 446:15 his own power to heal and his own health. Good must dominate in the thoughts of the healer, or his demon- stration is protracted, dangerous, and impossible in Sci- 446:18 ence. A wrong motive involves defeat. In the Science of Mind-healing, it is imperative to be honest, for victory rests on the side of immutable right. To understand 446:21 G.o.d strengthens hope, enthrones faith in Truth, and verifies Jesus' word: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

Iniquity overcome

446:24 Resisting evil, you overcome it and prove its nothing- ness. Not human plat.i.tudes, but divine beat.i.tudes, re- flect the spiritual light and might which heal 446:27 the sick. The exercise of will brings on a hypnotic state, detrimental to health and integrity of thought. This must therefore be watched and guarded 446:30 against. Covering iniquity will prevent prosperity and the ultimate triumph of any cause. Ignorance of the error to be eradicated oftentimes subjects you to its abuse.

No trespa.s.s on human rights

447:1 The heavenly law is broken by trespa.s.sing upon man's individual right of self-government. We have no 447:3 authority in Christian Science and no moral right to attempt to influence the thoughts of others, except it be to benefit them. In men- 447:6 tal practice you must not forget that erring human opin- ions, conflicting selfish motives, and ignorant attempts to do good may render you incapable of knowing or 447:9 judging accurately the need of your fellow-men. There- fore the rule is, heal the sick when called upon for aid, and save the victims of the mental a.s.sa.s.sins.

Expose sin without believing in it

447:12 Ignorance, subtlety, or false charity does not for- ever conceal error; evil will in time disclose and pun- ish itself. The recuperative action of the 447:15 system, when mentally sustained by Truth, goes on naturally. When sin or sickness - the reverse of harmony - seems true to material sense, 447:18 impart without frightening or discouraging the pa- tient the truth and spiritual understanding, which de- stroy disease. Expose and denounce the claims of 447:21 evil and disease in all their forms, but realize no reality in them. A sinner is not reformed merely by a.s.suring him that he cannot be a sinner because 447:24 there is no sin. To put down the claim of sin, you must detect it, remove the mask, point out the illusion, and thus get the victory over sin and so prove 447:27 its unreality. The sick are not healed merely by declaring there is no sickness, but by knowing that there is none.

Wicked evasions

447:30 A sinner is afraid to cast the first stone. He may say, as a subterfuge, that evil is unreal, but to know it, he must demonstrate his statement. To a.s.sume that 448:1 there are no claims of evil and yet to indulge them, is a moral offence. Blindness and self-righteousness cling 448:3 fast to iniquity. When the Publican's wail went out to the great heart of Love, it won his humble desire. Evil which obtains in the bodily senses, 448:6 but which the heart condemns, has no foundation; but if evil is uncondemned, it is undenied and nurtured. Under such circ.u.mstances, to say that there is no evil, is an evil 448:9 in itself. When needed tell the truth concerning the lie.

Evasion of Truth cripples integrity, and casts thee down from the pinnacle.

Truth's grand results

448:12 Christian Science rises above the evidence of the cor- poreal senses; but if you have not risen above sin your- self, do not congratulate yourself upon your 448:15 blindness to evil or upon the good you know and _do_ not. A dishonest position is far from Christianly scientific. "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: 448:18 but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." Try to leave on every student's mind the strong impress of divine Science, a high sense of the moral and 448:21 spiritual qualifications requisite for healing, well knowing it to be impossible for error, evil, and hate to accomplish the grand results of Truth and Love. The reception or 448:24 pursuit of instructions opposite to absolute Christian Science must always hinder scientific demonstration.

Adherence to righteousness

If the student adheres strictly to the teachings of Chris- 448:27 tian Science and ventures not to break its rules, he can- not fail of success in healing. It is Christian Science to do right, and nothing short of right- 448:30 doing has any claim to the name. To talk the right and live the wrong is foolish deceit, doing one's self the most harm. Fettered by sin yourself, it is difficult to free 449:1 another from the fetters of disease. With your own wrists manacled, it is hard to break another's chains. A little 449:3 leaven causes the whole ma.s.s to ferment. A grain of Christian Science does wonders for mortals, so omnip- otent is Truth, but more of Christian Science must be 449:6 gained in order to continue in well doing.

Right adjusts the balance

The wrong done another reacts most heavily against one's self. Right adjusts the balance sooner or later.

449:9 Think it "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle," than for you to benefit yourself by injuring others. Man's moral mercury, ris- 449:12 ing or falling, registers his healing ability and fitness to teach. You should practise well what you know, and you will then advance in proportion to your honesty 449:15 and fidelity, - qualities which insure success in this Science; but it requires a higher understanding to teach this subject properly and correctly than it does to heal 449:18 the most difficult case.

Inoculation of thought

The baneful effect of evil a.s.sociates is less seen than felt. The inoculation of evil human thoughts ought to 449:21 be understood and guarded against. The first impression, made on a mind which is attracted or repelled according to personal merit or de- 449:24 merit, is a good detective of individual character. Cer- tain minds meet only to separate through simultaneous repulsion. They are enemies without the preliminary 449:27 offence. The impure are at peace with the impure.

Only virtue is a rebuke to vice. A proper teacher of Chris- tian Science improves the health and the morals of his 449:30 student if the student practises what he is taught, and unless this result follows, the teacher is a Scientist only in name.

Three cla.s.ses of neophytes

450:1 There is a large cla.s.s of thinkers whose bigotry and conceit twist every fact to suit themselves. Their creed 450:3 teaches belief in a mysterious, supernatural G.o.d, and in a natural, all-powerful devil. An- other cla.s.s, still more unfortunate, are so depraved that 450:6 they appear to be innocent. They utter a falsehood, while looking you blandly in the face, and they never fail to stab their benefactor in the back. A third cla.s.s 450:9 of thinkers build with solid masonry. They are sincere, generous, n.o.ble, and are therefore open to the approach and recognition of Truth. To teach Christian Science 450:12 to such as these is no task. They do not incline long- ingly to error, whine over the demands of Truth, nor play the traitor for place and power.

Touchstone of Science

450:15 Some people yield slowly to the touch of Truth. Few yield without a struggle, and many are reluctant to ac- knowledge that they have yielded; but un- 450:18 less this admission is made, evil will boast itself above good. The Christian Scientist has enlisted to lessen evil, disease, and death; and he will overcome 450:21 them by understanding their nothingness and the allness of G.o.d, or good. Sickness to him is no less a temptation than is sin, and he heals them both by understanding 450:24 G.o.d's power over them. The Christian Scientist knows that they are errors of belief, which Truth can and will destroy.

False claims annihilated

450:27 Who, that has felt the perilous beliefs in life, substance, and intelligence separated from G.o.d, can say that there is no error of belief? Knowing the claim of 450:30 animal magnetism, that all evil combines in the belief of life, substance, and intelligence in matter, electricity, animal nature, and organic life, who will deny 451:1 that these are the errors which Truth must and will an- nihilate? Christian Scientists must live under the con- 451:3 stant pressure of the apostolic command to come out from the material world and be separate. They must re- nounce aggression, oppression and the pride of power.

451:6 Christianity, with the crown of Love upon her brow, must be their queen of life.

Treasure in heaven

Students of Christian Science, who start with its letter 451:9 and think to succeed without the spirit, will either make shipwreck of their faith or be turned sadly awry. They must not only seek, but strive, 451:12 to enter the narrow path of Life, for "wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat." Man walks in the 451:15 direction towards which he looks, and where his treasure is, there will his heart be also. If our hopes and affec- tions are spiritual, they come from above, not from be- 451:18 neath, and they bear as of old the fruits of the Spirit.

Obligations of teachers

Every Christian Scientist, every conscientious teacher of the Science of Mind-healing, knows that human will 451:21 is not Christian Science, and he must recog- nize this in order to defend himself from the influence of human will. He feels morally obligated to 451:24 open the eyes of his students that they may perceive the nature and methods of error of every sort, especially any subtle degree of evil, deceived and deceiving. All mental 451:27 malpractice arises from ignorance or malice aforethought.

It is the injurious action of one mortal mind controlling another from wrong motives, and it is practised either 451:30 with a mistaken or a wicked purpose.

Indispensable defence

Show your student that mental malpractice tends to blast moral sense, health, and the human life. Instruct 452:1 him how to bar the door of his thought against this seeming power, - a task not difficult, when one under- 452:3 stands that evil has in reality no power.

Incorrect reasoning leads to practical error.

The wrong thought should be arrested before it has a 452:6 chance to manifest itself.

Egotistic darkness

Walking in the light, we are accustomed to the light and require it; we cannot see in darkness. But eyes ac- 452:9 customed to darkness are pained by the light.

When outgrowing the old, you should not fear to put on the new. Your advancing course may pro- 452:12 voke envy, but it will also attract respect. When error confronts you, withhold not the rebuke or the explana- tion which destroys error. Never breathe an immoral 452:15 atmosphere, unless in the attempt to purify it. Better is the frugal intellectual repast with contentment and virtue, than the luxury of learning with egotism and vice.

Unwarranted expectations

452:18 Right is radical. The teacher must know the truth himself. He must live it and love it, or he cannot impart it to others. We soil our garments with con- 452:21 servatism, and afterwards we must wash them clean. When the spiritual sense of Truth unfolds its harmonies, you take no risks in the policy of error. Ex- 452:24 pect to heal simply by repeating the author's words, by right talking and wrong acting, and you will be disap- pointed. Such a practice does not demonstrate the 452:27 Science by which divine Mind heals the sick.

Reliable authority

Acting from sinful motives destroys your power of healing from the right motive. On the other hand, if 452:30 you had the inclination or power to practise wrongly and then should adopt Christian Science, the wrong power would be destroyed. You do 453:1 not deny the mathematician's right to distinguish the cor- rect from the incorrect among the examples on the black- 453:3 board, nor disbelieve the musician when he distinguishes concord from discord. In like manner it should be granted that the author understands what she is saying.

Winning the field

453:6 Right and wrong, truth and error, will be at strife in the minds of students, until victory rests on the side of invincible truth. Mental chemicalization fol- 453:9 lows the explanation of Truth, and a higher basis is thus won; but with some individuals the morbid moral or physical symptoms constantly reappear. I 453:12 have never witnessed so decided effects from the use of material remedies as from the use of spiritual.

Knowledge and honesty

Teach your student that he must know himself be- 453:15 fore he can know others and minister to human needs.

Honesty is spiritual power. Dishonesty is human weakness, which forfeits divine help.

453:18 You uncover sin, not in order to injure, but in order to bless the corporeal man; and a right motive has its reward. Hidden sin is spiritual wickedness in high 453:21 places. The masquerader in this Science thanks G.o.d that there is no evil, yet serves evil in the name of good.

Metaphysical treatment

453:24 You should treat sickness mentally just as you would sin, except that you must not tell the patient that he is sick nor give names to diseases, for such a 453:27 course increases fear, the foundation of dis- ease, and impresses more deeply the wrong mind-picture.