In a letter to one of her practitioner students about how to heal more effectively, Mary Baker Eddy wrote,
“Do you find any difficulty in healing? If so, strike for the higher sense of the nothingness of matter. Do not care to search into causation there, for there is no cause and no effect in matter; all is Mind, perfect and eternal…Now realize this, and be a law to every case…that there is but one Mind and this one governs your patient; that there are no minds to interfere….Realize constantly that no mortal mind (so-called) can affect you or make you believe you cannot cure your patients.” (In My True Light and Life, Mary Baker Eddy Collections, p. 577).
When studying this passage, I was struck by her emphasis on seeing that “there are no minds to interfere.” What might these “minds” be? I pondered. I came up with an example.
For instance, have you ever had a neighbor express an opinion about something that gave you fits, and you kept mulling over their opinion in your mind, arguing with it, agreeing or disagreeing with it, and wrestling with it for hours, even days later? This is an example of how another “mind” would take over our mind. We let its position dominate our thought, either consciously or unconsciously, and we are not thinking for ourselves any longer. They, in belief, are doing our thinking for us.
Mrs. Eddy is saying that we need to negate any suggestion of outside mental influence over our thinking when we pray for others. To be clear that the one Mind alone is having an effect.
This truth would include an understanding that there is no worried mind, anxious mind, fearful mind, medically laden mind, neighbor’s mind, family member’s mind, evil mind, or even a patient’s mind, creating any kind of mental impression anywhere, anytime, and in anyway. There is only the one Mind doing any thinking, understanding and knowing for you and your patient. And the effect of the one Mind is pure peace, healing inspiration and truth known, felt and expressed.
To the one Mind, there is only the one Mind.
Thank you Evan. This handles animal magnetism with one blow. No other mind.
Thank you, Evan, this is very helpful indeed.
I feel I will need to read it several times. It is helping with a very great challenge which I am facing and which would claim to rumble on, the basis of which is, of course, many minds, or sheer falsity.
This is extraordinary and much needed. I awoke in pain, struggling with fear. I realize I’ve been paying attention to the corrosive minds of political turmoil in our country. Thank you Evan for this middle of the night messsage.
A greatly appreciated gem today! Thank you very much, Evan!
Beautiful…much needed and appreciated!
Thanks Evan, this is great. I have recorded it so that I can listen to it over and over again because it will always remind me to stay focused on one Mind and never be impressed on whatever opinions around me
Thank you Evan for this message that we are in this world and in this Christianly scientific prayer and practice not just for ourselves – we are in it to recognize the mind and the love that reflects God in everyone. Like Jesus was.
Great way to start the day!! Perfect idea.
Thank you so very much for sharing this treatment. I am eternally grateful!
How to purify and protect thought ! Thanks be to the One Mind…
Amen, Katherine! I love that..purify & protect….keeping our emphasis on One Mind! Perfecto!
Is it possible to print this without pictures and comments? Thank you!
Copy only words you want. Then ‘paste’ this into an email to yourself. If the picture shows up then ‘print’ this to a word document and delete pix or words unwanted once in the word document. If can be done just takes a few steps to get there.
Excellent and so needed today! Thank you!!
Thank you for your consistent efforts to keep us focused on what is real.
Thanks Evan. The Scientific Statement of Being too mentions “All is Infinite Mind and it’s Infinite Manifestation for God is all in all.”
Hence no other mortal mind can ever interfere or hinder the healing which comes from the understanding that Divine Love alone governs man. “Controlled by Divine intelligence man is harmonious and eternal.”
I am SO very grateful for this SpiritView post, for the loving additions to Evan’s writing; a daily answer and support for working for the world.
Grateful grateful grateful
Thank you…this really woke me up to the power of the one Mind and how this Mind includes every aspect of our lives
THANK YOU Evan!. Your quotation was a personal treatment for a specific intrusion of “anniemag”, or “animal magnetism” ‘ which I needed today.
Thank you. Just what I needed to work with today.
Thanks for this on-target message with wide application.
Perfect for me Evan…though I have improved and resist reacting sometimes, I still have a long way to go so this is great! I’ve read it three times and will do many more I think…I’ll save it to my “Evans BEST” folder!
Also re-reading for the 4th time…the other mind (s) that may say you cannot help someone with healing including oneself, is often your own thoughts of doubt. Lately I’ve been battling with this and found some help from the line in a hymn “THY PRESENCE healeth me”…no my own thought or a practitioner or a friend …God’s presence is to be realised and acknowledged and then the healing is revealed!
So right Diane!
This is perfect to keep in MIND especially with the turmoil in our country and state.
Thsnkd do much
As I’ve said in earlier posts, I’m beginning to realize how much my use of medicine is motivated by fear–a doctor tells me I could sick, and I use medicine to stop the fear. I’m working to use Truth instead.
I think it’s important to remember that we can’t help others when we are afraid ourselves. I think that there were times when my grandmother and mother went beyond their understanding and refused medication for me–their fear for my health blocked Christian Science from working, and I think it would have been better for them to call a doctor and deal with the symptoms until the fear subsided.
I think that many Christian Science parents sometimes want to heal their children in a way that is currently beyond their capabilities, and they can–with the best of intentions–put their child in danger. Fear inhibits even the best of healing prayers, and only the most spiritually advanced could be calm enough to pray effectively while watching a child suffer. I love my godson very much, but if I haven’t been able to cure my own headaches on a consistent basis, I’m not going to turn to Christian Science if he’s got juvenile diabetes.
During my grandmother’s era, it’s unfortunate, but Christian Scientists were shamed for using doctors, and my mother remembered times when she was unnecessarily left untreated. Mrs. Eddy calls for nurses to have common sense, and I’m glad that this blog encourages common sense when making choices about what kind of treatment to choose.
Gratitude to you Ashpenaz for pointing out the extremes which Christian Scientists went through, before learning valuable lessons through spiritual treatment. I’ve been told of some unique experiences from both my grandmothers’ lives that bear this out. I love my grandmothers for following the teaching as best they understood it.
I feel blessed to practice Christian Science as best I can, now; to prove healing with Love and following the Christ principle are effective and permanent. It is my salvation TODAY!
Dear Ashpenaz, I just wanted to assure you that “watching (or letting) a child suffer” is not In harmony with Christian Science. I’m so sorry if that was the case with you. Mrs. Eddy writes in our text book Science and Health, “ If Christian Scientists ever fail to receive aid from other Scientists,- their brethren upon whom they may call, – God will still guide them into the right use of temporary and eternal means.” Also “ If patients fail to experience the healing power of Christian Science, and think they can be benefited by certain ordinary physical methods of medical treatment, then the Mind-physician should give up such cases, and leave invalids free to resort to whatever other systems they fancy will afford relief.” Maybe if someone has not read Science and Health from cover to cover he may not be aware of these statements. I’d also like to happily report that my son was healed of juvenile diabetes at the age of eleven through prayer as taught in Christian Science. So although, to our sadness, there are some very unfortunate things that some have experienced, some very wonderful healings of children have taken place in the past that are more the rule than the exception. Wishing you love and peace of mind. Blessings to you.
This is the perfect counter after witnessing a friend succumb to “group” fear about exercising in order to avoid a bodily condition from worsening. I love the statement that nailed it: “This truth would include an understanding that there is no medically laden mind”. In this case, a group gathered to caution my friend that her exercising would hurt my friend, so she succumbed and went home. Her own physician had NOT issued a “stop exercising” warning at her recent exam. Evan’s answer from Mary Baker Eddy removes the alarm I felt after witnessing this; “Do not care to search into causation there, for there is no cause and no effect in matter; all is Mind, “
It can be so tempting especially when you are in pain to think and think about the error that is manifesting. I am just beginning to not pay so much attention to it. It is interesting that even something so wonderful as CS can be used by people to serve error. I often think about Christianity in general that it probably got distorted and used for the same old errors almost immediately. My children think I am stubborn about my choice in healthcare though I rarely discuss it. They are going to doctors and notice I do not. Sometimes I just think I might go for a check up to silence their fears but their fears will always be there and I am not ready to go down that rabbit hole at this point.
I think all our ‘healings’ just tip the scale toward the Truth to be felt and seen around us. I do this for my own salvation but also for my family and the world beyond.
Thanks Evan for this is a great thought starter for me today about the crucifixion and resurrection ! When we know as Source, by law we must see manifest. When Jesus declared “It is not I but the Father in me does the work” -that it is the Christ that heals, not the “Jesus”, I remind myself he said he copies what the father does – and Spirit, or activity, of Mind is thinking. When we say “I healed ..” it can confuse some people; it is the work of our true nature, not personal self. Our knowingness as one Mind spreads out before us and we see as Christ Jesus – who taught us we must forgive (give truth of Source for error of inverted thinking) and forget (that which was not in Source but inverted thinking). My favorite MBE comment is that the time for thinkers has come – but it has only just begun on the next evolutionary level.
Awesome post, Evan!!
I agree, Jay, Awesome post. My family members are not Christian Scientists and frequently offer suggestions for my better health. I thank them for their concern and know that it is given lovingly. But then, I need to correct my own thinking that God is the only source for my well being. His is the only Mind governing me.
YES This is very important for me also. Thanks for all the comments on this subject. It has been very helpful.
I really enjoyed this post -thank you Evan. And, I really enjoyed the honesty in the contributors comments. I have found in my own search that yes, I have been frustrated when a healing has not occurred. But, I also know I have had some healings and it was very apparent it wasn’t just coincidence. Finding a practitioner who really understands the science and can break through the sense of fear can feel challenging. I do not believe it is asking too much to have them share their arguments against the claims and that I should be able to ask questions. I think that is a good way to learn more about the science. And, the more transparency there is, the stronger we are in our understanding.
In my search, I have gone to doctors and found some are more knowledgeable than others so it is a good idea to question them as well. Although some did not seem to have much science behind what they said, I saw others who had a deep desire to help and did follow a scientific train of thought (based on belief in matter). In some instances, I felt like a lab animal that they were collecting evidence from for a database but there was no help at the end of the collection of data. A doctor helped me overcome an issue that puzzled other doctors. His educational background was impressive and he had put a great deal of time and money into just getting his MD. When his patients were not getting answers, he moved in another direction, into holistic medicine. (He could have stayed an MD and made his money). I understood that I was in line with materialistic thinking to have that healing. I conformed to world thought and boom the healing occurred. Another doctor could not even believe it (because he was ignorant of world thought…lol). But, the danger in believing in world thought and depending on it is that it is constantly changing. When we go higher and see who we really are as God’s creation, it is a set of rules that don’t change regardless of what world thought is dictating over time. So, it is important to see ourselves as spiritual instead of material. And, going to doctors may work against that goal as they are focused on analyzing, improving and learning more about matter.
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Thank you very much for today’s freeing SpiritView. Sometimes I suffered from opinions of others , also for longer. Then I prayed, dear God please give me an angel thought calming me down. Often it came an angel thought. But what Evan is stating above is profound Christian Scientific Truth. This truth is that there is one allencompassIng divine Mind which fills all space and no mortal mind can interfer, as in God’s realm and harmonious government there is no mortal mind, rather spiritual man, reflecting his Creater, divine Mind.
Wow, Evan, that’s a specially wonderful and helpful and healing SpiritView – thanks so much!
I want to add my gratitude for SpiritView! Today’s subject was particularly helpful to me. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Evan, and also for the helpful comments. MBE says “The exterminator of error is the great truth that God, good, is the only Mind…” (S&H 469) Of course, the paragraph goes on to show the importance of this fact. Thanks again!
Evan thank you for being so caring.
I like your open mindedness – indeed an expression of one loving Mind.
Thank you Evan!
This letter is also in the “ we knew Mary Baker Eddy expanded version. I love it! It brings so much peace to know that the fears and doubts that mortal mind entertains can be seen as powerless to interfere with God- the one Divine Mind. We know God’s voice is the only one that counts and has any truth or power. Mortal mind wants to say that medical science is above Christian Science- above God. Nothing is above God and medical science is not equal to Christian Science. At best it may be a temporary relief-
But it often Causes more fear and looks for more trouble and leads into the “ house of mirrors”. You don’t have to be an advanced student in CS to heal. I had many healing based on own prayers as a child by applying the simple ideas I was learning in Sunday school. It is more a trust and understanding of God as Love. But Eddy states that you should early call for help if you are not seeing results in your prayers- especially with young children. I am grateful to say that I relied on CS successfully in raising both my children. They rarely missed school and when they were required to get medical exams, they were exceptionally healthy.
God is here and we can know Him/Her and trust Him to care for us . That’s why Jesus told us to become as little children.
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