Jesus Christ was a master healer. He knew how to heal people through prayer and left his example for us to follow.
Mary Baker Eddy, a devoted follower of Jesus, figured out how to heal spiritually like Jesus taught, and shared what she learned in her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.
In this book she explains that Jesus had a different point of view than observers around him. He mentally lived in the realm of Spirit, whereas people around him were, for the most part, believing they lived in matter.
Mrs. Eddy writes, “To Jesus, not materiality, but spirituality, was the reality of man’s existence, while to the rabbis the spiritual was the intangible and uncertain, if not the unreal” (Science and Health, p. 352).
To heal like Jesus healed, we too, need to see spirituality as reality, rather than materiality. We need to be living the realm of Spirit, not in the fiction of matter, to see what Jesus saw and experience what Jesus promised we would experience if we practiced his teachings faithfully.
We can do that! It’s a choice we make.
We can choose to think out from Spirit, live in Spirit, and experience the blessings of being spiritual here and now. We don’t have to wither away in the dreamland of mortal mind suffering from the temporal illusions of matter. We can live in the reality of Spirit and find health and peace. It’s a much more enjoyable way to live.
When Spirit becomes substance to us it changes our world view and our own identity. We become other centered rather than self centered.. And the good thing is that everything turns out better.
Thank you for the insightful post.
According to Jesus’ admission that he of himself could do nothing,.. John 14:10 and all.
Accordingly, I state Jesus did not ever heal. This differentiation is fundamental. I comprehend your intent, yet I do protest.
As for thinking out from Spirit, it can be easier said than done. It sounds like a foreign concept, for if I and the Father are one, who’s doing the thinking?
I have found success with quiet contemplation, peace be still focus, to allow the communication from God to enter my consciousness.
Have a blessed day all y’all.
Thank you for your honesty.
Your post stirs up my thinking in a good way!
“Honesty is spiritual power.”
453:16
Hi John! Thank you for your comment. Your assertion that “Jesus did not ever heal” was very thought provoking. However, it made me think of Matthew 10: 7-8 below, where Jesus is recorded as saying to his disciples:
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7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
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This would imply Jesus considered his disciples able to heal others. That made me ask myself, what does it mean to “heal”. It occurred to me that we could say a First Grade Teacher is able to “heal” their students of the error that 2 + 2 = 5. Similarly, we, as expressions of God, are able in the relative, to free others from false beliefs just as Jesus and other early Christians did. We could also say nothing really needs to be healed in reality. It’s just a mistaken view of reality that needs to be corrected. And while it’s true that the truth we express when correcting false beliefs has its source in God, that truth needs to be expressed or manifested. And we, as that expression, manifestation, or effect of God are therefore part of the solution that we call “healing” and we can take joy in doing our part.
Thank you. Robert H. You said it better than I did but it amounts to the same thing. I may have been rather forthright, but I am seeking healing, and I need to keep
affirming and realising that Jesus did heal according to the Science of Christ. – that discords are just false beliefs – and it is so important for me to realise this fact – to understand their nothingness, because of the allness of spiritual reality which is always perfect. What I said earlier on is now below what I have just posted.
This is a confusing issue for me. This weeks lesson includes Mark 3:1-5, where Jesus heal’s a mans withered hand. There is no conversation between Jesus and the man. It doesn’t seem that the mans’ thought changed yet he was healed. I’m not sure what the lesson is for me in this example. Thanks
Hi David. Great question! Here are some ideas that came to mind when I thought about your question.
Mark 3:2 from the Bible lesson:
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And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
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That verse tells me that the people in the synagogue were aware of Jesus’ healing works. The man with the withered hand had probably thought prior to encountering Jesus that his hand was incurable. But don’t you think after hearing about Jesus’ other healing works, or perhaps even witnessing some of Jesus other healings, that this man’s thought would have changed from a sense of “incurability” to a realization that “everything is possible to God” as evidenced by Jesus’ healing works? Maybe the man became more aware of God as Love by hearing of, or seeing, some of Jesus other healings. So that’s point one regarding your question about how his thought could have changed.
Next, think how this man would have reacted to Jesus’ command to “Stretch forth thine hand” had his thought not changed. For example, if someone has an ailment, and they are asked to do something they don’t think they can do because of the ailment, don’t they respond by saying that? For example, if you have a sprained ankle and someone says, “Let’s go for a hike” don’t you respond, “I can’t because I have a sprained ankle.” When Jesus told the man to “Stretch forth thine hand,” why didn’t the man respond with “I can’t! I’ve tried over and over in the past to stretch my hand out and I can’t because my hand is paralyzed!” If the man’s thought hadn’t changed, that’s how he would have responded. The fact he didn’t say “I can’t” but instead did what Jesus told him to do tells me his thought had changed.
But what caused the man’s thought to change? I’m not sure we appreciate just how well Jesus demonstrated God’s idea of the “perfect man” and “man’s inseparability from all harmonious God.” In S&H is this statement:
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The real man being linked by Science to his Maker, mortals need only turn from sin and lose sight of mortal selfhood to find Christ, the real man and his relation to God, and to recognize the divine sonship.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 316:3–7)
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The Christ that Jesus demonstrated so well, made people aware of “the real man and his relation to God.” In other words, Jesus made people aware of the Christ, Truth. Jesus did that both through his actions and his words…and most importantly, through his pure understanding of God (Life, Truth, Love) and his relation to God.
When reading articles from the C.S. periodicals about this Bible story, I came across an article that relayed how someone was healed when truth was stated with “conviction.” That made we realize that just the “conviction” with which Jesus said, “Stretch forth thine hand,” must have instantly changed the man’s thought. In other words, the man, who might have previously been holding to the error of “incurability,” had that error immediately destroyed by Jesus’ understanding that “incurability” is an error…not something caused by Love. Again, discarding error for truth doesn’t take time. The man must have *immediately* realized as a result of encountering Jesus’ total “conviction” of the harmonious inseparability of God and man that he too could never really suffer from the error of incurability or discord. And as a result, the man *realized* what was really true all along, and we call that “healing.”
Here’s a link to the article I mentioned above about how a man was healed when his wife spoke the truth “with conviction” and the result was an immediate change of thought (healing).
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1rbb30f6h4u?s=copylink
Jeus healed thoughts, not matter. We need to know that Jesus
DID heal, but not matter, because matter is not real.
Also, in my understanding, man is God’s spiritual idea, therefore our true thoughts are what God is imparting to us.. We are instructed to turn away from matter and listen for what God is giving us to
know.. This does require lots of quiet contemplation,
as you do, JohnB. This quiet listening I gather, gets easier the
more we practice it. Lots of patience and trust needed. This is
what I am needing to do at present,, and I know it will yield
results for us all. I am going back now to my quiet, prayerful
contemplation of our oneness with our Father=Mother God,
and His son, Christ Jesus.
Thank you Maggie. We learn a lot on the journey from sense to Soul, don’t we? For years I used to think “what is wrong with my thinking that causes me to experience problems?” But about a year ago I listened to an audio on JSH-Online by Deborah Huebsch where she spoke about the need to handle “general belief” which she defined as “the belief held by the majority.” She said it’s not enough to just handle our individual thought of error, but we need to also handle “general belief.” She described a healing from a fall from a horse that took place once she realized the need to handle various general erroneous beliefs and how since then she always handles the beliefs held by the majority when praying for healing. A link to the podcast is below.
https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/1kuput4z27m?s=copylink
As you wrote in your comment to my comment above, Maggie, one general belief is that prayer doesn’t “work” and we as Christian Scientists need to counter that suggestion and know that Jesus, the disciples, other early Christians, Mrs. Eddy, and Mrs. Eddy’s followers and readers of Science and Health (see Fruitage chapter) DID/CAN destroy false belief and that results in us seeing reality as God knows it and that’s currently referred to as “healing.”
Rose shared a talk by Ralph Byron Copper, C.S., a few weeks ago that also caused me to have an “ah ha” moment regarding “general belief,” if not handled, can lead to us experiencing error. Thank you Rose for sharing that talk…and I was inspired to read that rather long talk because of Maggie submitting a comment about how good the talk was, so thank you Maggie for making that comment.
In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy wrote:
Jesus…sufferings were the fruits of other people’s sins, not of his own.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 38:21–23)
That again is to me a statement about the need to handle “general belief.” It occurred to me that before the crucifixion & resurrection, Jesus often encountered “hate” and dealt with it in various ways (e.g., walking through an angry crowd, refuting hateful statements from others with just the right truth, etc.). But after the resurrection, there is no mention of Jesus encountering hate. That makes me think “Jesus’ three days’ work in the sepulchre” resulted in him completely overcoming the error of hate in all permutations. He also overcame other general beliefs like death, belief in aftereffects from being hung on a cross/stabbed, etc. If Jesus is indeed our way-shower, that means we too can overcome general belief…we just need to be aware of the need to do that and do it!
Thank you for your comments, Robert. Would you mind sharing the Ralph Byron Copper article for those of us who may have missed Rose’s post a few weeks ago? A quick look on JSH show too many of his articles with the phrase “general beliefs” in them. I’d like to zoom in on the article referenced. Many thanks!
Be happy to Sharon. It’s below.
https://www.ardenwood.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/AlwaysReady_R.Copper_5.12.pdf
Here is a link to an appropriate article in the current Journal
The thought that heals\https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/1631ovt511i?s=copylink
Thank you Maggie. I’m reposting your link so it’s “clickable”
https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/1631ovt511i?s=copylink
The link doesnt seem to work – sorry.
It worked for me.
Thank you Evan. Yesterday I had an experience of “thinking out from Spirit” that I’d like to share.
For a few days my knees had been feeling stiff and weak. Not enough to be a big problem, but it occurred to me this was a symptom of believing I had advanced in age to a point where joints start aching and being weak and I eventually became alert to counter those suggestions in my thinking. A neighbor who no longer drives sent me an email asking if I would get her something at the grocery store. I live about a mile from a grocery store. It’s a nice walk to the store so I decided to walk, but as I started out, I again was besieged with the suggestion of weak and aching knees. At that point I decided wholeheartedly to “think out from Spirit!”
I thought about a talk by Daniel Jensen C.S.B, entitled Practical Wisdom (link below) where he says:
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Some of you here tonight may have traveled considerable distances to be here. It seems to you, perhaps, that you got onto roadways and perhaps traveled many miles. But I submit that you never went anywhere!
https://danieljensenassociation.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/DLJ-Practical-Wisdom.pdf
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I realized that I wasn’t a somewhat heavy blob of matter being propelled on my walk by material legs with material joints that could wear out. Instead, I was simply an individual consciousness viewing God’s ideas pass through thought. I decided it was like I was stationary and viewing a movie that just seemed like I was moving through space passing houses, trees, etc. I immediately felt lighter and was no longer being assaulted by suggestions of weak knees.
I made the 1 mile walk to the store and about a half mile going a different route back from the store with ease that normally would have tired me out. When I got to my house I realized I needed to walk another 1/8 of a mile downhill to my neighbor’s house to deliver the things I’d gotten her from the store and then walk the 1/8 of a mile back up hill to my house and I didn’t even give a second of thought to the suggestion I couldn’t do that. On my way home I thought about how the lawn needed to be mowed. So after I got home I went out and mowed the lawn. At no point did I ever feel tired.
I’d highly recommend thinking out from Spirit to everyone. It’s really a wonderful way to live! 🙂
RobertH, thank you for sharing your experiences, thoughts, and links to the articles.
Thank you, ,Ronert
Thank you Evan, and all. Love all the comments and discussion.
In case you missed it this week, I’ve enjoyed listening to the Sentinel Watch by Nikki Paulk, “Anyone can heal.”:
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1ewoorkodxs?s=copylink
Yes J! I’ve listened 6 times already. Treatment after treatment. Just fantastic!❣️
Me too Patty, it’s so good!
Me too, Patty! I love listening to this on my daily walk!
Talk about visionaries….
to See as God sees us.. not blobs, walking from the rule book of Mortal brainobogy..
Keep playing that Tune… we’re all in the chorus singing..
Glory Be on High!!
Love always, thank you so much..
Did anyone find the Ralph Byron Copper talk mentioned?
I just posted a link to Mr. Copper’s talk above under Sharon’s comment. And after posting it above, it occurred to me that if Sharon is looking for references to “general belief” in Mr. Copper’s talk, that phrase won’t be there. Look instead at the section of the talk labeled “Watch your thoughts”.
Thank you Robert!
“We can live in the reality of Spirit … It’s a much more enjoyable way to live”.
Thank you for that, dear Evan and for all of the spiritual declarations you so
much inspire us with, in helping to keep thought pure and peaceful. Thank you,
too, for all of the other’s sharing, in thoughts and articles, which also follows
through with these very practical messages of Truth. Such a blessing where
so much temptations of mortal thinking seems to be around us. Seeing the
reality of Spirit IS a much more enjoyable way to live.
Thank you all for the commentary, I work nights and have now returned from rest to read what ideas we have polished.
It took me decades of mortal time to recognise there is only God. The discovery about three years ago of Christian Science was life-changing and wonderful.
Distilled to its essence I can only ever think out from Spirit, for that is where I live, move, and have my being. It is only a mesmeric belief that I can do otherwise, and those temptations arise along this path, and appears to be the model of this journey.
To know the Truth, is to make on free. What is the Truth ? There is one God. There is only God. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof”, Psalm 24:1 to me states that it is ALL God. You, me, Jesus, disciples, Mary Baker Eddy, Evan, et cetera, with God since before Abraham.
We are not separate, we are one. That is the rub. The seeker is the sought.
Jesus : And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” I researched that “business” term and discovered translators have a variety of nouns in that spot. But what ever the term, business, house, things, it is ALL God’s.
Jesus was not ever about his work – ahem, healings even – Jesus was about God’s work. God did the work, not Jesus, he was the face of God to those not yet aware of their divine origin. Jesus was clear that folks should not be searching for Jesus, but for the the one who sent him.
To sum up, we can only ever think out from Spirit, and our journey is to set aside the notion that we have ever been anywhere, or anything apart from God. Peace ensues, and where there is peace, there is no fear.
Thank you again, brothers and sisters for the offerings, and thank you Evan for the forum for us to polish ideas and learn of our purpose and means to do it, and to be.
Insightful and thought-provoking John B. Thank you for sharing with us.
I love how all these posts show that Christian Science healing, the universal, unchangeable law of God, is not only for our individual needs, but helps to lift the darkness of error off the mental atmosphere of the whole world!
Evan with gratitude! Thank you for the clarity!
Helpful comments and links …thank you Evan and all!❤️