How you view sickness has everything to do with your ability to overcome it.
If you believe sickness is true it can look scary, hard to deal with, maybe even impossible to get rid of.
If you understand sickness to be a lie, then you can find authority, understanding and dominion to overcome it. You won’t be so tempted to feel helpless or hopeless about it because you know it’s a lie and truth can defeat it.
If sickness were true, you couldn’t overcome it. Why? Because truth is forever. A circle is round. That’s a truth. You are never going to change it. A circle is never going to be more or less than round. That’s just the way it is.
And the same rule applies to any truth. It’s fixed, permanent, forever.
If you were inclined to believe sickness is a truth, then you are liable to believe that you can’t overcome it, because in the background of your thought you know that a truth is fixed. You can’t change it. That’s just the way it is, you mindlessly conclude.
However, almost everyone rebels against the suggestion that sickness is truth. Doctors and nurses work endlessly to help patients overcome sickness. There is a voice within them that protests, “It’s not right for this person to suffer from this disease. There must be a way to get rid of the disease.” And they work to find a solution. There are times when they admit it is a truth and give up and give in. When the next suffering patient comes along, they jump in again and work to free that patient, because they still hear that voice within that says, “This isn’t right.”
And that voice is correct! It’s the voice of Christ that they hear. Christ is the voice of God speaking truth to humanity, illuminating the way to the perfect man of God’s creating that never suffers from disease. It is inevitable that mankind learns the truth about disease, that it’s not right, not true, and not in control.
Christian Science explains that we should always see sickness as a lie. It’s not a truth. It’s not part of God’s plan for man. It can be overcome. Jesus Christ never gave into sickness and agreed that it was a truth for man. He overcame it with the spiritual truth. He taught that we all have a divine right to live free of suffering and disease.
So, don’t give into the temptation of believing sickness is a truth. The sooner you see it as a lie the sooner you’ll see spiritual light to overcome that lie and find a pathway to healing.
Sickness is a lie, always.
Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “If sickness is real, it belongs to immortality; if true, it is a part of Truth…But if sickness and sin are illusions, the awakening from this mortal dream, or illusion, will bring us into health, holiness, and immortality. This awakening is the forever coming of Christ, the advanced appearing of Truth, which casts out error and heals the sick” Science and Health, p. 230.
Treat sickness properly as a lie, not as a truth, and you’ll find you way to victory over it.
Dear Evan, thank you so much for your treatment – your SpiritView is so clear, so inspiring, that I feel it as a treatment – this Truth is just what I need for today, of course beside the weekly lesson sermon – thanks a lot!
Thank you, Evan
So very clear and helpful, Evan, thank you! Your posts, articles, webinars – the healing insights and thoughts you share – are such a blessing to the prayer and practice of many – my sincerest gratitude!
Just what I needed to be reminded of today. Thank you Evan.
I am still digesting yesterday’s great blog message and here comes another wonderful one, merci Evan.
I work in the medical field. We do come to this work because we know that disease is not right., and we want to help. Thank you for acknowledging the good people in this field. Thank you for pointing out the lie behind disease.
Thank you Anita. Your comment has deep meaning to me.
Dear Evan, thank you so much for this blog, ‘this treatment’ as Uta says.
It is most helpful indeed. At times we all need encouragement in our journey heavenward.
Thank you Evan! It occurred to me when reading your blog today that the primary motivation in healing is to free either ourselves or others from bondage, slavery, to a false belief…a false concept we hold that is contrary to God and His idea. And isn’t this motivation an act of love? I think sometimes that point is lost sight of and Christian Science gets reduced to just another health care system. But the following from Science and Health, pg 226, really brings home this point, and explains why Mrs. Eddy worked so hard to make Christian Science understandable to everyone.
I saw before me the sick, wearing out years of servitude to an unreal master in the belief that the body governed them, rather than Mind.
The lame, the deaf, the dumb, the blind, the sick, the sensual, the sinner, I wished to save from the slavery of their own beliefs and from the educational systems of the Pharaohs, who to-day, as of yore, hold the children of Israel in bondage. I saw before me the awful conflict, the Red Sea and the wilderness; but I pressed on through faith in God, trusting Truth, the strong deliverer, to guide me into the land of Christian Science, where fetters fall and the rights of man are fully known and acknowledged.
Today’s blog and comments are so strengthening and liberating! I too love that Evan acknowledges the hard working and kindly motivated medical workers. I have witnessed so much love/caring/tenderness in the medical setting with family members who choose medical help. I love Brian’s comment that the primary motivation in healing is to free mankind from bondage to false beliefs. And Mrs. Eddy’s quote is perfect, isn’t it? The love she felt for mankind comes shining through that statement. She saw a higher healing method, based on Jesus’ practice of Christ-healing. This one is a gem, thank you, Evan and commenters. Deeply grateful to all of you. 🙂
Sickness is an insult, a disgrace against a pure loving God who never created it.
Thank you, Evan, for this Blog today and for the one yesterday, too! What you are doing is helping to break down the false structure of the “Christian Science Culture” which has been built up over many years and has actually been detrimental to the growth and healing ability of the True Christian Science that Mrs. Eddy discovered and demonstrated. I have been trying to find out what C.S. REALLY IS, instead of the “culturally contrived” sense of it that I was raised in. I was raised to believe that Doctors and Medical Nurses and the whole Medical Field were bad and wrong and evil and to stay away from them – at all costs….. even that it was better to suffer or die than go to a medical Doctor! And this false sense of C.S. is what has given it a bad name out there in the world and why so many people think Christian Scientists are Nuts! I have been struggling with such Shame and Guilt and Fear and Panic over having gotten a CT Scan to check something out in my ear that has been a chronic problem since childhood. ( I have spent the last 3 years working with several C.S. Practioners and haven’t received Healing.) I have been told by a most kind, loving and caring doctor that this can be corrected with a fairly simple surgery. Of course, I’m a bit apprehensive about surgery (having never had any), but I’m finding it’s the Guilt and Shame that is hindering me the most and causing me the most suffering at this point. I have been striving to see Medical Doctors and Nurses as kind and loving human beings who are doing a wonderful work to help alieviate the suffering of human beings while we are on this Earth Plane. Comments, anyone……??
Definitely listen carefully to Evan’s blog. This is Christian Science that actually heals – that proves that it is scientific. God loves His/her creation and has never endowed His children with mistakes and limitations to overcome. Of course you can have medical attention. There’s no penalty for that. But Love has a higher plan for all mankind that includes health and harmony, blessing instead of cursing. Take a realization and knowledge of that Love with you – embrace it and let it cherish you. There’s no condemnation – right way or wrong way. Jesus healed to show us how God cares for His/her creation. If sickness were true, as Evan says, we could never “fix” it or change it. But it happens all the time. Physical ills go and come. Spiritual Truth lifts us to a higher plane of thought and action – and we find ourselves expressing Love’s goodness and freedom, and a better manifestation of health.
Thank you Evelyn, … ‘an’ that’s the Truth’.
I agree with you Bevi, that there is huge room for improvement in how CS is often practiced. And from what you write, I think you are finding your spiritual compass that points the way out of the negative aspects of your past. And I rejoice with you!
Again, CS simply should not be about whether one goes to a doctor or not. That is not the leading issue. CS is about knowing God, living Love, being truthful, putting Jesus’ teachings into practice and learning the power of divine Mind to maintain and restore health.
Students of CS are at many different places in their understanding and readiness to put the absolute truths into pratice. Each student must act according to their understanding and what brings the best long term results to preserve the greatest good. This is a decision that should be solely between the student and God. There should be no sense of shame or guilt about what one decides. That’s all human ego stuff which has no place or part in CS. If one believes they need to take a medical step to preserve the greater good, then so be it. Life goes on. Opportunity to practice and learn Truth continues. Only good keeps coming their way for God’s love is continuous and constant.
I’ve also seen in experience that when people lose their fear of taking a medical step, the very problem they thought they needed medical help with disappears. And that’s because they lost their fear. Fear was the issue all along. So, step by step we learn God’s grace and the final truth about all things.
I’m sure no one expects you to walk on water. I don’t know anyone at our church who would criticize you for having this medical treatment after trying for so long to see the healing demonstrated. Martyrdom is not a part of CS and it seems to me that you are doing your best and that is all that matters. Maybe the healing you need is one of letting go of guilt and feeling you have to measure up to what others may judgmentally expect of you. God sees you as the perfect manifestation of Spirit, Life, no matter what you do. God doesn’t judge you so you don’t need to judge yourself. Just my thoughts on this at the moment. Right or wrong…. we are all constantly learning and if you had nothing left to learn, you probably would have ascended by now…so just keep on learning through experience and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.
Thanks Evan!
Bevi, Did you see Evan’s comment yesterday regarding your post? It nails it … xox
Thanks, you guys!! Yes, I did see Evan’s response to my Comments on yesterday’s Blog – so very Good and Helpful! It’s just hard when one is raised in a C.S. Family where there was abuse and dysfunction by parents who themselves were raised in dysfunctional C.S. Families. I think, over the years, since Mrs. Eddy was Healing and Teaching, C.S. has gotten distorted and misunderstood and has been passed down that way from recent generations by people who didn’t really understand it and who were just hiding behind it to avoid facing their own psychological problems. Often I’ve seen how C.S. can be used as a “Spiritual Bypass”, which just means it can be used as a type of Denial, or a way to avoid really facing Real and Human Problems. And this is so dangerous and damaging to the Healing and Forwarding of Real Christian Science. I know many people who’ve been raised in strict C.S. Families who have never been taught about themselves as Human Beings with Feelings and Needs, but have been taught to deny their humanhood and just to live outside their bodies and to call that Christian Science. I actually feel I need to be Healed from being raised in a Christian Science Family and all the damage that did to my sense of self and self-esteem.
Bevi …. many of us have seen the same thing, the truth is we need to see who we really are as untouched and not compromised by others actions or in-actions. Betrayal and non functioning relationships do not have to be obsessed and re-hashed as we move our thought up towards God who has always held our spiritual being in perfect purity. Evan talks about the mist and fog which seems to obstruct the perspective and view of what is already there, a good way to view not tripping over a bad situation and getting stuck there. No shame and lack of worth in God- only value and empathy, no abuse in God’s eyes – only love and cherishing who each of us truly is, not ignoring it, looking from a different point of view ….
Bevi, I keep re reading this particular entry and your comments and want to say that I really admire your attitude and the way you are hanging onto CS for yourself and the fact that you haven’t rejected the truth just because someone presented it to you in what was for you, a “dysfunctional” situation. I know of only one other person who felt like this and she has for most of her life utterly rejected CS . Now at 64 years old she is gradually realising that a spiritual approach to life really IS the only way to bring peace and understanding into your life. She has had a dreadful time for over 40 years in every respect but stubbornly refused any spiritual perspective from loving family and friends to help. However I can see that you KNOW the Truth is explained through Christian Science and I’m sure that your own understanding of it, together with your searching for answers WILL bring you to a peaceful , trusting place in your thoughts. You are on track girl !!..and God is always guiding anyone who is a seeker of Truth. You don’t have to MAKE this happen …just keep listening and LET God show you through all the good that is present and to come in your life. Let that resentment about past “mistakes” goo because while you hang onto that, you continue to suffer from it…every day is new , every moment is new and maybe start each day being grateful for 2 or 3 things in your life..or even in he lives of others around you. God is BEING good all around you, and this has never ever changed, but we need to acknowledge it to feel it. With love to you…..
Mrs. Eddy, in her early writings addressing the belief of sickness, says, “it has no identity and is an image, formed in the mind that reflects itself in the form it believes.”
Hi Bevi…I read somewhere that Mrs. Eddy was never afraid to reverse course if she made a decision to do something and then realized later it was a wrong decision. I think wherever I found this it was also said that the mere fact we “do something” (move forward) often causes us to gain a larger perspective that helps us to ultimately make the right decision.
So I would encourage you to listen to your “little voice” in regard to what is the right thing to do in your case. Then if you find later you have moved forward in the wrong direction, you can always change course. In other words, if you decide to pursue the surgery, perhaps something will be discovered before the surgery actually is done to help you avoid having to have the surgery. Or if you go ahead with the surgery, then perhaps that was the best course of action for you. But I’m certain that if you listen, you will be guided.
Here’s another favorite quote of mine from S&H, page 444:7-10
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.
Thank you, Thank you, Brian! Both of the ideas you shared are very helpful to me! I’ve often joked that Christian Scientists should be taught how to deal with Doctors and the Medical Model, because, as I’m finding, it’s a whole different world to learn to navigate successfully. You have to actually accept the dimension of matter and how to heal by using material means, if you want your treatment to be successful. As one C.S. Practitioner told me, she could work for me before the surgery, but not after, as “we want the Medication to work!” I thought that was so honest and true and compassionate! Thank you again, Everyone, for all your kind concern and help! I’m living kind of isolated from other C.S.ers up here in N. Idaho, so this is such a support for me! Love and Blessings to You All!
Dear All,
(This includes you, too, Evan!!)
I’ve received the SpiritView emails for many years now, and have appreciated every one.
I feel impelled to share today’s on my FaceBook page. I’ve stayed away from involving
my FB friends, etc., from my interest in Christian Science (well, far beyond ‘interest!’) but
I feel today’s blog will be helpful in breaking down more misconceptions about this
religion….this divine TRUTH.
in Love,
Sue
Dear Bevi – my heart goes out to you. I know as you pray to God for guidance you will receive the right answer for you. Even if you choose the medical route, your progress in Christian Science will continue. One of the problems I’ve witnessed with following the surgical route is that once the obstruction, growth, or whatever is removed, which may seem like a simple solution – it often comes right back. I don’t remember how many times my best friend in high school had the warts removed from her hands, through very painful processes. I had more prominent warts on my hands and through studying the book of Isaiah in the Bible as a Sunday School assignment, they just disappeared. I didn’t even know when. It wasn’t until a man in church one Wednesday gave a testimony about the healing of one wart, and as I listened, I looked down at my hands which were completely clear and have remained so. Healing in Christian Science is permanent, effective and is in accord with God’s law of perfection. You are, and always will be, God’s beloved child in whom he is well pleased!
Thank you, Evan, for your Comment above re. Your agreeing with the idea that there is a huge need for improvement in how Christian Science is often practiced! I think I remember Mrs. Eddy saying somewhere (in S&H) that putting C.S. in the hands of someone who doesn’t really understand, but is trying to use it, is like putting a knife in the hands of a maniac! (Can anyone help me on this…..?) And I also want to say, that what you said about people who get over their fear of using the Medical Model for Healing often get healed of their problem, is so helpful to know! As I’m working on healing my Fear of Doctors and the Medical World, I actually feel like I can hear a little better in my left ear!!!! Is this for Real? Amazing!!!
Hey Bevi, I think a lot of love is going your way from everyone who has answered your original post, so don’t be surprised if your ear is feeling better!
As for that rather strange comment re “a knife in the hands of someone who doesn’t understand CS”….. there are many things we hear that we know are just rubbish and we instantly reject them, but sometimes extreme or unthinking comments are made as a kneejerk reaction, so just because maybe someone we like or respect said them is no reason to automatically believe them. We pray for wisdom so that we can differentiate between good and bad. Error, evil, fear etc (and this is a very fearful concept that was suggested to you) always tries to distract us from our spiritual progress. I would re focus my thought away from this suggestion because you will never find an answer to a mistaken concept.
Thank You, dear Lori! You have touched my Heart and are helping me with my Healing! Sending much Love and Blessings!
Thank you, Shelly, for your kind and enlightening comments re. “we’ve all seen this – betrayal and non-functioning relationships…but we need to get above it……” I definitely agree, but I also see the immense value there is in bringing all this out in the open, instead of keeping it hidden in “Denial” and just smiling and saying, “Fine”! I believe Christian Scientists need to start talking (like we are doing today) and about what’s REALLY going on in their lives and not just saying the “good stuff” or just spouting C.S. quotes, etc. It’s amazing how healing it can be to just get it out and not to be afraid of talking about some deep emotional problems or physical problems – to tell the current truth about what is ACTUALLY happening in the moment, not just what the Truth is about the problem. I study C.S., but I am also a member of a 12-Step Program – Co-Dependence Anonymous and AlAnon – and attend weekly meetings where people are so honest and loving and supportive and share their “experience, strength and hope” with each other and use Prayer and Meditation to heal and to help others in the circle to heal. It’s very powerful and non-denominational and has helped me find a different (more friendly and personal) God than the one I was exposed to as a child growing up in a Christian Science family. Much Love and Blessings to You!
Thank you all for your very helpful commemts. Very much appreciated
Hi Bevi, you are right! Just heard this quote from Brene Brown “If you put shame in a Petri dish, it needs three things to grow exponentially: secrecy, silence and judgment.” hugs!
WOW, WOW, WOW!!!! Thank you does not adequately express my appreciation for your “treatment” Evan. And to the responders, especially, Brian, Grace and Evelyn (and, of course, Evan), your comments in response to Bevi’s plight are wonderful. No one else in my family is in CS. Ten years ago (West Coast) and again last year (East Coast) an incident happened where I
was non-responsive and taken to hospital. My sons did tell doctors I was a Christian Scientist and I cannot express enough gratitude to them and nurses for taking into account my beliefs as we progressed over a period of two weeks at my sons in GA to be able to fly back home to WA. Love was expressed by all in their way. I appreciated the fact that the doctors respected my desire not to take all pills. i did tell them them I respected and admired all they were doing for humankind, but I give no power to pills for sustaining or healing – only to God . They were surprised at my age how fast I as recovering. Also were surprised that all routine tests were clear. No heart attack – no stroke. .Also surprised that having no immunizations, no mammograms, no flu shots, no vitamins, no bone tests, no arthritis, no pain pills, etc. , all was OK. Some even asked to know more about. CS. Still I feel guilty about minimal medical (oxygen) and a pill – taking to appease beliefs of sons. Have been told I can be off of oxygen if I lose weight and walk a lot. But we know there is more to it than that. ” In Him we live and move and have our being (breathe).” Evan, can a practitioner work with me at all under these conditions? Know two other CS members who also are in similar situastions and were going to drop church membership out of guilt,
Hi Mary Ann,
Oh certainly, a practitioner can help you find healing. I will mentino though, that I’ve heard of some practitioners who will not work with patients that are on any type of medical reliance, but I also know that many will. So find one that understands your situation and can see a way to help you out. With God, all things ar epossible. keep you eye on the possible!
Should say use of oxygen (much to dismay of oxygen people) has not kept me from doing things. Progress is being made. Only need oxygen driving and walking distances likr grocery shopping. I volunteer in our Reading Room for 4 hours every Monday and Friday a.m., take my 15 year-old grandson to a PT appointment in another town 30 min. from here Tuesday & Thursday afternoons in rush hour traffic, hair/pedicure!, shop for Sunday dinner I cook for 2 sons and 3 grandsons (2 in college) and then we play board games until late. And of course, church. Since I live alone have regular outside and inside work to do. Being 80 a lot of people don’t understand how I can do all this and still run errands and work on scrapbooks. But we know as reflections of God’s spiritual ideas we are not limited, have all right action and freedom of movement. I stand upright and walk in the strength of the Lord, (not exact quote). So much to be grateful for.
Evan, since I cannot have a practitioner work for me your blog has been a true gift from God.
There are many practitioners who will work with you. If the ones you’ve asked won’t, try others. If you want help, it’s available – but you may have to try several people before you find the right one.
I’m so grateful for all the sharing. I have been trying to heal an itchy arm.i did finally see a doctor. But strangely even with a topical cream it has not gone away. I think that I’m seriously being confronted to heal it spiritually.
The last 2 days have been exemplary for learning how to heal. I keep trying to get it but truly think I’m not filled with enough real understanding. I also try to examine my agitation over the elections and think I need to not get so worked up and just trust that God is truly in control. I’m pretty sure there is a connection. Thank you ,Evan for all the support. I read this blog everyday .
You really are giving all of us so much and I do want you to know how much I love and appreciate all that you give.
wow. and thank you all.
N
What wonderful lessons I’m learning through this day.
The sharing and love expressed warms me.
I know we are all the beautiful children God made us to be.
One of the key reasons for the decline in CS churches seems to me to be the lack of opportunity…or is it just an inherited culture?…to talk to each other about important things, about our concerns, our weak areas, and even just how things are really going with us. Our common CS experience is to be “talked at” in almost all church-related functions leaving many members feeling very lonely when they are honest with each other (very rarely done!!). It’s certainly possible to go overboard in the opposite direction, where chatter gets in the way, but it seems we are structured way too far on the lonely side. That seems to beget guilt, fear, feelings of inadequacy, and so on. Why is it that so many long-time CS students are afraid to talk about their beliefs to friends, strangers, etc?
And I think this general line of thought relates to one of Bevi’s early questions above: WHAT CS REALLY IS. An underlying paradigm for many of us is that the definition of CS includes multiple books by Mrs. Eddy, buildings in Boston, an organization with staff and publications, some teachers/practitioners, local buildings where there are services or they sell literature, and even Mrs. Eddy herself. I think it’s essential for ANY student of CS to step back, recognize every one of those and all other related context as human trappings, and recognize that the Scientific Statement of Being is WHAT CS REALLY IS in a nutshell! And it wouldn’t have mattered if Mrs. Eddy or the whole shebang had ever come about in human experience—the Scientific Statement of Being always has been the Truth for all. And that fact gives us the grace and intelligence to wrestle with who we are, what is the nature of the Source, what is our relationship to it, and how do we live our lives….while hopefully trying to “emerge gently” into this completely radical concept of reality.
Good for You, Mary Ann! You are so Precious and Loved! You are upheld by His Omnipotent Hand! Sending Much Love to You!
Yes, thank you all!!! And we can’t go wrong in continuing our reading and studying the Bible and Science and Health.
Yes! I do believe you are Right On, Bob! As I said above, I get so much out of the 12 Step Groups which I use right along with C.S. I need to share with others, be there to hear what they are sharing and then experience how we all Love and Support each other in a spiritual way – turning our will and our lives over to our Higher Power. They get a lot from me, too, because I share in a little different way, due to my C.S. background. They know there’s something different and they really appreciate it! So many C.Sers that I know, myself included, seem to have missed out on developing their Human self and in healing stuff that happened to them in childhood. As someone once said……”You can’t get rid of an ego unless you’ve got one.”!! You can’t just put C.S. on over unhealed wounds and hope that it sticks. It won’t…….things will come out sideways! There needs to be a firm foundation of our healed Humanhood before we are ready to really understand and practice C.S. effectively. And I do believe Mrs. Eddy says this in various, different ways in Miscell. Writings. It’s just that they didn’t have Therapy and 12-Step Groups back then, all anyone had was the Bible and Christian Churches and Nobody EVER talked about their Feelings or what was Really Going on in their Families. Secrets and Pretense were the norm back then, as far as being real on the Human Level. And unfortunately that’s what comes thru in the C.S. Religion, because that’s how people were in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. I Love C.S. but I have to add a lot to it on my own to make it fit with this 21st Century Life! Love to All!
Dearest Bevi, you belong to God and He is guiding you. What other people think is only their idea and can be right or wrong … but their “unhealed error” cannot touch you or keep you from hearing God’s voice who is telling you, I made you, you live in my Mind and what I Know of you is pure, perfect, whole and complete. I know you will find your right pathway because in His eyes, you are already “on it” most lovingly, CayDee
Thank you, Everyone! This has been a Wonderful coming together in Love and Support of each other. It has meant so much to me to have the support of my fellow brothers and sisters! And I hope all of these Comments on the Blog today have served to uplift and help others, too! Some of us may be Christian Scientists, some of us not, but we are still Human and have lots to work out and to share with each other. It’s OK, it’s Really OK, to just BE REAL and Human and Let God guide us in whatever way is right for each of us individually. Much Love and Blessings to All!
Thanks to everyone for their comments! It’s exactly what I needed to read today. I’ve had an extreme challenge, including severe pain and vomiting. I called a practitioner, and she didn’t call me back. But I kept arguing against it (although a lot of the time I was sleeping).
Bevi, I left CS after Sunday School to see what else was out there. I got in a really bad state health-wise, unable to work, had to leave my home and my relationship and move near my parents so I could get their help. I know part of my problem was that the main place I was getting loving attention was at medical practitioners of various sorts!
When I came back to CS and then started back to church, I started making great progress. However I too felt that pressure to stop all medicine. I tried to stop a bunch of it, and ended up in far worse shape! I had to take a step back, and remember spiritual growth is the REAL goal, not changing matter. I actually didn’t talk to the practitioner who I felt kept asking me how the meds were doing for a long time. Glad to say I finally did, she of course had no idea how I felt – and she is working for me again! Without asking about it anymore. Taking Class Instruction has accelerated my spiritual growth.
Part of my problem today is my frustration over being denied church membership due to still taking some meds (not that they actually denied me – they just didn’t even talk to me about it for about a year, only interviewed me when I pressed about it, then left it hanging, until I finally withdrew it). This is a holdover from the people who came in after Mrs. Eddy passed, and The Mother Church got rid of that membership requirement in the 80s (I suspect after that culture was blamed for some children’s deaths). The remnants remain with us, unfortunately! It’s a refusal to acknowledge the immense spiritual growth I’ve had, and the numerous healing I’ve had, or the numerous ways I’ve contributed to church as proof enough of my worthiness; but because I’m not materially perfect yet, and my reliance on God for overcoming pain isn’t, I can’t be a member – even though MBE talks about if you’re in pain and can’t treat yourself, treat the pain.
I found spiritual help through Al-Anon for a while, which was great for impersonalizing the error (except the view of being powerless over alcohol). It got me back on a spiritual path, and I found loving support and ways to let go and turn things over to God. I didn’t feel support from the people at church until I started giving testimonies; even that has waned with the membership. But I don’t think most of the people there have any idea that they don’t come off as loving. So, I’ll keep working to see the love that is really there!
A few years ago, I too was knocked back for membership because of taking some calcium tablets for a bone situation after major surgery, even though 2 practitioners had recommended me. However although I didn’t go to church for 18 months after that because of disappointment and shock, I eventually realised I was the one missing out by not attending church. I returned and wrote a letter asking that the “Membership rules” be changed to say “endeavour to rely on CS …” After much discussion they did this, I became a member and have just finished 3 years on the board, including a year as Chairman and 3 years as Lecture organiser. Only by sticking with it and helping to bring about change so that our churches are INclusive rather than EXclusive, will we hang onto CS which is the greatest gift anyone can have.
Thanks, Ellen, for your Wonderful, Open and Honest Sharing! Sending you lots of Love and Prayerful Support! You deserve it just for Being You! You sound like an amazing, courageous woman. Just remember, as Evan said, the most important thing is your own Relationship with God. It’s always just between You and God. It’s not really about Church, Religion and What Other People Think……it’s always just establishing your own personal connection with God and listening for Her guidance! Sending Love and Blessings! You are so Loved!
Thanks Bevi! You are so right that escaping What Other People Think is extremely important! We are all God’s beloved children, all have our own paths.
And Diane – there has been discussion of change, but nothing has happened yet. So, writing a(nother) letter is exactly what I’m working on! Getting rid of the junk in thought, and hearing what to communicate… I hope things will open up. I keep listening for what to do; sometimes that’s to go to another branch, if there’s too much junk in my thought. But running away never solves anything. God is all-harmonious! Whatever is right will work out.
My sincerest thank you to all who shared their thoughts on this blog. I was wrapped up in reading every word. Much love to everyone for these healing ideas!
Thank you Evan, and all for this blog and all the honesty shared. Here’s a link to a beautiful conversation between U2’s Bono and Eugene Peterson. https://youtu.be/-l40S5e90KY
Thank you, Christineo! I watched the Utube video of Bono and Eugene Peterson and It Was Beautiful! Such Openness, Compassion and Realness!!
Sickness is real; but we have God given power to fight it. We have doctors and surgeons, empowered by God, to provide whatever treatment is required. Denial does not make sickness go away.
Medicine and the medical profession have evolved to such a point that it bears little or no relationship with what was available in the 1860s. Ethical, responsible treatment has to be medically based first, with prayer taking a secondary role. Times have changed since Christian Science was “discovered” and it has failed to keep up with this progress. God never changes and mainstream Christianity reflects this.
Meditate on Psalms 91 and 103.
I am so grateful for modern medical science. Absolutely. I know it’s not the magic solution that CS people seem to want. But it’s better than folding our hands and going in to a closet and frankly, doing nothing. Prayer can supplement real help. But it should NEVER replace it. 100% agree with you.
I don’t know of any magical solutions! But I do know that prayer can heal and should never be underestimated. Real help always comes from God first.
It’s a pure joy to know how to turn to God for help and find it. It’s a wonderful way of life to know how to pray and find healing. Many people misunderstand Christian Science, as you illustrate by some of your statements, but when it is understood and practiced, the results can be quite marvelous.
I have nothing against doctors. People use them, and are happy with that. Fine. But I also know the joy of finding healing through prayer, and it’s quite wonderful.
Hi Richard,
Sickness does seem real to the physical senses, but it loses reality to spiritual sense which allows for spiritual healing to occur, and that was the point above.
If it was real, you could never get rid of it, because something that’s real is forever. A truth cannot be changed.
Yes, times have changed since Christian Science was discovered, but the need for healing through prayer has increased. People seem to be suffering from more diseases than ever, even with all the medical advances. And people are suffering from more aggressive forms of disease than ever.
I certainly respect your right, and anyone’s to choose medical treatment first, but I’ve seen from experience, that prayer can prevent and heal a whole host of problems that make medical treatment unnecessary. And that is a very good thing.
This is a very dangerous notion you have here. I am saying it that way because believing in things like this combined with growing up in CS has caused relentless turmoil on me throughout my short life here on Earth. Not to mention watching my family relentlessly torment themselves over things that could be easily helped by a professional such as a therapist. Mine has done amazing wonders for me, by the way.
The truth that you so kindly speak about is that I am Autistic which is just as true as having brown hair.
This truth was ignored by my family. This truth caused me to question myself. This caused me to go underground in my thought. Never to speak of what legitimate problems I was having. The bullying, the hurt, the pain. It drove me to depression, pushed down my self worth so on and so forth.
Since learning about and by extension accepting that I am Autistic my life has become so so much better. This IS my truth. Just as a circle is round, there are Autistic people like me that can talk and have feelings and can articulate them fairly well.
Yet when you grow up in a family that would much rather you keep quiet about your very real and valid problems, it makes one feel like they are broken, unwanted. At the end of the day no matter how hard and how seemingly loving my caretakers were, I STILL had these feelings. They never simply went away.
Christian Science would have me believe that these feelings, emotions, problems, I was having were not real. So I would not talk about them which is not the same as them not existing.
I will leave with one more thought. Staunch Christian Scientists, while they may not have intended to, try to placate your feelings by denying it exists. When someone does that, you also negate the good, positive feelings, and therefore simply exist.
I no longer simply exist. I now love myself. I know who I am. I know my truths.
Hi Louise,
I’m glad you’re finding a growing sense of freedom. That is good! But I want to clear up a major misunderstanding you are voicing in your comment about Christian Science. To deny an evil is not to pretend it doesn’t exist. It’s to seek out the counter spiritual truth that overcomes it. The kind of denial you mention is not Christian Science, and it’s not a healing approach. I’m sorry that is what you were taught. The proper practice is to unsee the claim of evil you are facing with a deeper understanding of spiritual reality. That leads to healing.
You say autism is your truth. You are free to believe that, and it will be a truth to you. But I’ve seen from experience that when one accepts disease as truth, it’s much harder to overcome, and that’s because a person has accepted it as a reality. Yes, it feels like a truth when one is experiencing it, but when one realizes it’s not a truth, and that it can be overcome, he or she starts to muster the confidence and determination they need to seek out a remedy to be rid of it. One will not be so inclined to quickly give up and give into the suffering, which leads to more suffering and feelings of hopelessness. And as Christian Science teaches, one can find spiritual help to defeat that suffering and go to a better place. The ultimate truth in Christian Science is harmony, health and life with God, which is possible to experience in growing degree right here on earth. As one grows and feels closer to God, their thought improves, their lives improve, and healing happens. It’s a glorious experience to have.
Much love to you.
Yet that is how it is taught. To me you are essentially saying “well you’re not doing it right”.
MBE once stated (paraphrasing) that in order to heal your affliction, you must understand what you are dealing with.
Christian Science strips ones notion that the corporeal body is real. Yet the body is real and science can help, medicine does work. When you are taught your entire life that whatever “bad” that you are feeling is evil or in CS terms practicing Animal Magnetism, it makes one feel less when that is not their reality. It takes away one’s ability to identify and therefore deal with very real feelings and emotions. So feeling depressed is a direct result of this as well as not being able to be happy as well.
This is the Christian Science I know. This is the CS taught in the church that ultimately told me my girlfriend’s twin brother did not die, when he did and I was in grief. This pushed me away because it’s not human, it’s grossly inhumane at best.
Hi Louise,
I’m sorry you’ve picked up so many misunderstandings about Christian Science along the way, but they can be improved and corrected.
Christian Science is such an incredibly beautiful teaching. It brings so many blessings into the lives of those who catch its essence and live out its ideals. It has brought huge blessing into my life.
I don’t think everyone would agree with you that medicine cures everyone’s ailments. I have people call me everyday for spiritual help because the medical model has failed them. They have problems that the doctors cannot cure, that the doctors just keep prescribing more and more drugs to try to cope with the disease, but offer no hope of relief or permanent help.
Christian Science teaches that our real body is spiritual, made in the likeness of God, whole and perfect, healthy and well. And that the more one understands their identity from a spiritual point of view, the more of its blessings they experience in everyday life. As one understands the truth about their real body, what appears to be a corporeal body starts to feel less and and less material. Burdens lift, pain disappears, disease goes away. One starts to feel more and more spiritual. It’s a truly uplifting inspiring aspect of spirituality practiced to experience. I encourage you to pursue it. You’ll start to discover that you don’t need so many medicines to stay healthy. You can do it spiritually.
With your girlfriend’s twin brother, obviously he did pass on for he is not on earth any longer. But it has brought huge comfort to millions of people to understand that life is eternal. It does not end with death on earth. That is what someone probably said, but was evidently misinterpreted.
Christian Science explains that life is eternal. It does not end in matter. It goes on in Spirit. I find huge comfort in knowing that my grandparents, parents, and other loved ones are still alive and well and that someday I will see them that way, give them a big hug, and move on side by side.
Again, Christian Science is hugely comforting when understood.
To say that doctors deny the truth of disease as they treat it is like saying that a mechanic denies the existence of the engine while changing the oil. It is a ridiculous statement to make. If they only accept the truth of the disease in the case of terminal illness, then why are they treating all the other diseases? It just doesn’t make any sense. When Christian science tries to shoehorn the rational world into the shape of its distorted worldview, the fallacies of its thinking become the most obvious.
Your re-phrasing is not what was written, nor the spirit of what was written. If you truly want to understand, please eliminate all your prejudices first, Open your thought to new and spiritual possibilities that you’ve never considered before, and you might catch a glimpse of what is being presented.
To the literal thought, deep metaphysics doesn’t make sense. But to the spiritual sense, it makes perfect sense, and can lead to healing.
OK, then I’ll address the sentences individually.
There is a voice within [doctors] that protests, “It’s not right for this person to suffer from this disease. ”
*Probably what they are thinking is more along the lines of “It’s not right for this person to suffer _unnecessarily_ from this disease. Let’s apply treatment methodologies that have been statistically shown to be effective.”
“There must be a way to get rid of the disease.”
*They would instead say, “If this is a curable disease, we will treat to cure it; if it is not curable, we will treat its advance as much as possible. In either case, we will treat the symptoms so that the patient does not suffer unnecessarily.”
And they work to find a solution. There are times when they admit it is a truth and give up and give in.
*Doctors never ‘admit’ that illness is true. A cold is true when it starts, and it’s true when it goes away naturally in about a week. Cancer is true when it first becomes noticeable or shows up on a test, and it’s true when it becomes terminal and the patient enters end-of-life care. And doctors don’t ‘give up and give in’. They shift their treatment modality depending on the many factors involved. Having said that, it does not bear repeating but I’ll re-state it this way: A disease is NOT more or less ‘true’ to a doctor depending on which type or stage of treatment they are treating a patient with.
When the next suffering patient comes along, they jump in again and work to free that patient, because they still hear that voice within that says, “This isn’t right.”
*Again, their inner voice would probably be saying something like, “Let’s cure this if we can, manage symptoms if we can’t, and prevent any unnecessary suffering or spread of the disease.”
And let me restate the ‘shoehorn’ allegation as well: If you were to interview actual doctors and try to use their statements to show that they are acting in accordance with Christian Science, you would have to cherry-pick their words and take them out of context in order for them to support the notion that you are trying to put forward.
I have no quarrel with what you write here. It think its self-explanatory to the discerning reader. But for the thinker who understands there is more to reality than matter, disease and what the physical senses take in, what you write only propels them to go higher. And that’s my goal.
You are correct. Most doctors would give-in to terminal disease and consent to death. They would act as if disease were a truth at that point because they don’t know what else to do. But Christian Science teaches one how to not give in and to seek out healing instead. Terminal disease does not have to be terminal. It does not have to be one’s “truth.” It can be overcome. Jesus Christ showed us how.
Thanks for your care.
Hi Evan, Richard, Helen, Fimby and Louise. I think one thing we can safely agree on is: Christian Science is not for Everyone. Instead of making the Religion and the Teaching Wrong, how ’bout just acknowledging that for Some People it is Wonderful, they Understand it and are able to be Healed by it. For others, Not so much or Not at all. C.S. is based on some extremely advanced Ideas that many, many humans are not yet even near ready to begin to understand. And that’s OK! To be able to Heal like Jesus did is indeed a VERY Tall Order!! Also, we can agree that when C.S. is practiced in Families by Parents who have a very poor understanding of it, it can reek havoc with the proper development of the child. I know, because this happened to me! I, too, have had to go to Therapists to get some self-esteem and a proper understanding of my True Goodness as a Human Being. What makes it so difficult is that when there is abuse within the context of a religious/CS Family, it’s like a double-whammy – abuse within abuse. It’s just hard sometimes to get rid of the incorrect C.S. programming that was instilled in you since Day One, and to come out of it and ask for Help! What Louise has been through and what I’ve been through is probably one of the main reasons that the churches of C.S. are shrinking. Too many children have been raised incorrectly in C.S. by parents who weren’t really Christian Scientists. I know most of my friends from my era who were raised in C.S. haven’t stayed in it because of the hypocracy and abuse that came with it. Hope this helps!
And even more, the purpose of this blog is not to judge anyone. It’s just the outgrowth of my experience with putting the teachings of CS into practice, which has been very positive.
This blog is for people who are interested in learning more about how CS is practiced and how they can put its ideas into practice if they want to.
I have complete respect for everyone to choose whatever type of teaching they want to follow. I don’t feel it’s my place to ever judge my neighbor or cast them in a negative light, but just to love them and support them in their journey Spirit-ward.
Much love.
So true Evan! Mrs. Eddy advises us to be “charitable and kind, not only towards differing forms of religion and medicine, but to those who hold these differing opinions”. And as Abraham said to Lot “Let there be no strife between me and thee…for we be brethren.” (=
Fimby, I hope you didn’t miss this comment from Anita who summed up Evans comment perfectly:
“Anita
June 9, 2016
I work in the medical field. We do come to this work because we know that disease is not right., and we want to help. Thank you for acknowledging the good people in this field. Thank you for pointing out the lie behind disease.”
She, a medical field person, understood Evan’s comment and thanked him for it.
In my childhood my mom was a Christian Scientist, my dad not, but my dad let me and my sisters be taken care of through the prayers of my mom because he saw the wonderful care we were receiving.
All I know, as a life long Christian Scientist, is that “doing nothing” is NOT Christian Science.” That suffering is NOT Christian Science. That through loving prayer based on Christ Jesus healing ministry, and explained in Science and Health, suffering (or any other problem) is relieved. If suffering is not relieved, Mrs. Eddy states, “If Christian Scientist 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.” In other words we are not expected or left to suffer but are free to seek other means for relief from physical or mental suffering. I am happy to say we never needed to “seek other means”. Hearing some of the above comments shocked me and made my heart heavy. I can’t imagine a Christian Science parent other than loving, nurturing and aware of their child’s needs and meeting them.
One comment stood out to me I’d like to comment on: “There needs to be a firm foundation of our healed Humanhood before we are ready to really understand and practice C.S. effectively.” I think it’s the other way around! Through Christian Science we find our true humanhood which heals any wounds of our childhood.
Godspeed to all!
Well stated Rhonda! Thanks!!
I felt the same way you did when reading some of the comments. But many of the comments, especially those I disagreed with, made me re-think why I choose to study and practice Christian Science so the end result was very uplifting and awakening. These comments reminded me of all I have to be grateful for as a result of having Christian Science to rely on.
Great way to think about it. Thanks Brian!
Evan I think it’s time for you to shut down this blog. You have been most patient, gracious and loving in your responses. You have certainly earned my deepest respect.
I’m not sure what you mean by “shut down this blog.” Perhaps you mean “this conversation.” It’s okay. It’s been a very healthy dialogue above. It’s helpful for everyone to see opposite points of view. It challenges one to know why they believe what they believe and also to see what other people believe. I appreciate that. Just so the dialogue is respectful and nonjudgmental. That’s important!
Thanks so much, Evan, for your Comment and Response to Lori on June 24, 2016! I have experienced so much Healing from this Conversation and it led me to a Wonderful C.S. Practitioner who bluntly told me that my Parents just simply weren’t Christian Scientists! He got me to see that I was blaming C.S. when it was just “mortals misbehaving”. He was able to separate out the “garbage” in my thought, so I could FINALLY have a clear understanding of Christian Science and its Teachings! I know there are many other People out there who have been raised by parents who “professed ” to be Christian Scientists, but who really didn’t understand it and thus, as children they were not healed or treated with Love. I think there needs to be a Big Healing of People who were raised incorrectly in C.S.! My Healing has Definitely Begun!! Thank You and Bless You All!