Christian Science teaches its student the importance of undoing the claims of mortal mind in thought before they have a chance to manifest physically, for if a suggestion is kept out of one’s belief system, it is kept out of experience. It is no small task!
My attention was arrested by a recent article in The New York Times that connected cancer to bad luck. The study it reported cited evidence that cancer happens by chance, not for a reason. It surmised that healthy events in the body can randomly mutate and cause disease, and there is no way of knowing ahead of time whether this will happen or not.
Denise Brady, the author, started her article, “Cancer’s Random Assault,” with these words,
“It may sound flippant to say that many cases of cancer are caused by bad luck, but that is what two scientists suggested in an article published last week in the journal Science. The bad luck comes in the form of random genetic mistakes, or mutations, that happen when healthy cells divide.
When I read this, I was not dismayed, discouraged or alarmed at all. I felt quite to the contrary. It pointed out a claim of evil that needed to be exposed, reversed and demonstrated over with spiritual truth—the lie of bad luck!
I immediately began to pray and get thought straightened out on this vital subject.
There is no bad luck, I declared! Bad luck does not happen. God never created bad luck. God doesn’t know anything about bad luck. Bad luck is not a reality. And it’s not a condition we have to accept as part of the human experience.
To demonstrate over the lie of bad luck, it became strikingly apparent to me why betting in the lottery, and engaging similar gambling, and hoping to make a killing was not an innocent act. It opens thought to the opposite claim that one might lose everything. It implies a life ruled by chance rather than certainty.
With God, life is not a chance or uncertainty, we must know! It is predictable good. It is based on a fixed Principle that guarantees eternal life, health and harmony. This is our reality as children of God, and understanding it eliminates the temptations of bad luck or random chance.
So, I share this article with you, not to create fears, but to strengthen your metaphysical position against the lies of cancer. We are never helpless. Cancer can be defeated by undoing the lies that prop it up. It is healthy to have lies exposed so they can be handled and destroyed. Otherwise, they are often unwittingly accepted and cause trouble that can seem hard to pinpoint.
So, it’s time to eliminate any suggestion of bad luck from your life! You don’t need luck of any kind. You have God, and that includes certain, predictable and reliable Good.
As usual, Even, you are so “right on.” The concept of “luck” is so pervasive in our society that it almost seems natural to say “Good luck” to one facing a challenging situation. When someone tells me that I certainly was “lucky” to have experienced something good, I’ve replied that I am “fortunate.” When I checked the definition of “fortunate” I find it means the same thing as “lucky”! So, I’ll be considering another word to use, one that expresses my gratitude and does not seem preachy or “religious.” I think it healthy to be able to express a right concept for another to consider, without making them think I’m “preaching.” Thanks for introducing this topic for me to ponder.
Carolyn, I know what you mean! You probably have found the perfect word for your response when people tell you are lucky to have experienced this or that. I never thought of the word “Fortunate” to have any association with luck but now that you mentioned it, I can see how that might be the case. The response that came to mind that I think I would use is just, “I am grateful,” because the good that you experienced already was even before you realized it. Divine Principle is always in action and knows no time boundaries – it simply is.
I saw this headline and didn’t read the article, thinking I was protecting myself by not doing so. But I have to admit that the title did stick in my thought. Thank you so much for pointing out how important it is to face these beliefs swirling around in the “information network.” I stand corrected! We don’t stick our head in the sand hoping to escape! We must (and as you point out it’s not always easy) correct false beliefs on the spot, and pray until we understand that it is divine law , not chance, that underlies, overlies, and encompasses all true being.
In a universe governed by Principle, there is no randomness, either “good” or “bad” luck.
Like Carolyn, if someone says I was ‘lucky’ I say I was blessed.
It goes to say that you never gamble, even to the buying lottery tickets or even entering contests. Life is not subject to chance.
I read this article too. Luck has never been in my vocabulary and was always corrected as a child. I have lost several friends over the years to this so-called decease and noticed (especially with my best childhood friend), that all were stressed over something in their lives; something, onto which they couldn’t get a positive hold. None were CSers. I was starting to be a worry-wart at the time of her passing but as I flew home on the plane, I decided to honker down on the books and lessons and study CS like never before. Where I didn’t understand something well before, became clear to me and I’m so grateful every day for what Mrs. Eddy gave us. I changed my worrying to positive thinking and am a far happier person today. Everyone around me notices which maKes it even more fun.
Thank you Evan for all you do. I certainly appreciate your thoughts and writings.
Susan
It seems that we can get caught between two opposing views at times. Between hard science in the form of probability and statistical knowledge on the one hand and wisdom in the form of understanding the Principles connected to the attributes of God on the other. But there is in Truth only one Principle in operation. By definition God is good and cannot be anything other. His love for his creation is sincere and eternal and is completed when we return what we can of it to him in the form of praise and demonstration. To argue that there is no luck on a material basis would be silly to the statistician because luck is just the probability of a certain outcome; but to say that the universe is conditioned by luck is committing a greater silliness as if life itself is the outcome of a Lucky God. Great post today Evan. It made me think.
Josef, your comment that luck is the probability of a certain outcome to a statistician was arresting to me. It made me remember that premise is everything. A statistician may accept evil outcomes as much as good ones, and calculate accordingly. But in the one God, evil is not an option or possibility, let alone a probability. It is excluded by the omnipresence of Good. And that understanding puts us in a much better place when “calculating” what to expect.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Evan. I beleive that Einstein said, speaking of the material world, “God does not play dice with the universe.” But Christian Science takes it to a whole different level, as you so wonderfully stated. It frees us from chance, as well as from the belief of the law of Karma. Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not of this world, ” and when we allow the realization of God (the Kingdom) to enter consciousness we are no longer subject to universal beliefs. How freeing that is. Thanks for your vigilance.
I always wondered as I watched people who had very little ,it seemed in money, spending dollars each week on lottery tickets. A friend once said Why would you leave your life to chance?
Boy! This takes the cake. I never heard of Cancer being based on bad luck, but error loves to be centerfold in our lives. Around 40 years ago, my wife who was Jewish was told she had Cancer of the Uterous. My self being a Student of C/S looked up Cancer in the dictionary and the definition was; “CANCER–A SPREAD OF EVIL.” I used that definition whenever I hear Cancer. “How could evil spread when God, Good fills all space?” My wife had her healing and I have a son who now has a son.
As far as luck goes, who wants it, rather who needs it? Who wants to attach him/herself to happenstance? The playing of the Lottery is the most dispictable temptation I know. The outcome even if one wins is self suicide in the long run. This I know for my father was in the gambling business in Palisades Amusement Park and part ownership in gambling joints in both New Jersey and New York.
I disagree- I had cancer and I had the same father too
In a way, using our dad as a public example, was a gamble you took. You did not consider the chance that I would see this. Please do not name drop – our last name given to us by dad, or the Name of his business. T u loved that park with all your heart – Even tho it was filled with guilty pleasures. Dad, I post, I love you. I respect you. And I know you where far from perfect.
My husband commented to a CS friend, after we first met, that he was lucky to have met me, to which she said that “luck had nothing to do with it”. He and I still remind ourselves, after 18 years of marriage, that we were blessed that we met. I’ve found people responsive to that word “blessed”.
Regarding the matter of ‘luck’ etc. I like to say “God is good to me.” Plain and simple!
I am not apologetic about my belief system either.
Far from being alarmist, Evan, the article you shared vindicates the Christian
Regarding the topic of ‘luck’ and ‘fortune’ etc. … I like to say “God is good to me.” Plain and simple!
I would not want to be apologetic about my belief system either, irrespective of who I am speaking with.
Far from being alarmist, Evan, the article you have shared, vindicates the Christian Science stand on the
variableness of man-made theories and human opinions. In the words of Mark 13:37, it is in fact a call
for action, “…. Watch.”
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Thanks for alerting us to watch out for ideas of chance, luck, probability, etc. in our thinking. I went to an optometrist for new glasses about 6 months ago and during the exam the doctor suggested I submit to having my eyes dilated and photographed just in case this procedure would find signs of disease. I declined and explained I was a Christian Scientist and didn’t feel that was necessary. He kindly respected my wishes but responded with something like “So you believe in just waiting for something bad to happen?” And I responded with something like “No, through prayer I can know that nothing bad will happen” (or something to that effect…fortunately on the spur of the moment I was able to come up with the perfect counter response to his question but I don’t recall the exact wording of what I said right now). Whatever I said seemed to satisfy the doctor and make him think. So I was glad to have been led in what to say that day.
But I’ve also become aware in the last few years of protecting myself from the idea that I need to submit to these type of diagnostic procedures on the “chance” that something might be found. And also protecting myself from the belief that these procedures are necessary for catching something “early” so that it can be treated. News reports, co-workers, advertisements, etc. are frequently suggesting that we need to submit to a colonoscopy, dental X-rays, breast cancer X-rays, etc. all in a search to find disease in our experience. The nice thing is that we can group all of these suggestions in the same category and free ourselves from these suggestions by understanding they are all based on the idea of chance and as this blog has pointed out, we don’t need to be tricked into believing we are subject to chance since we are created and maintained by God and God loves us and would never subject us to disease, sickness, etc.!
I found this subject very interesting as I need to reshape many of my thoughts. I found some new formed ideas about how I can reject some of the eye exams that are just assumed and prescribed for me annually. And I appreciate all the comments. This topic certainly got a BIG response. I also have to admit I have had an optimistic attitude about gambling. I have found it fun and joyful. when I have had many wins. I don’t like to think of it as evil. I do understand why you say it is though. I guess I’ll just have to wrestle with it.
Brian’s comment on “diagnostic procedures” reminded me of a superb article by
Beverly Bemis Hawks DeWindt: Can a diagnosis reveal your true identity?
It is in the Christian Science Journal of June 1995, and worth reading.