The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-01-29
The POWER TO HEAL
BELONGS TO MIND.


Christian Science Is SO prominently be-
fore the public view:
We are sick because we know not how
to be well; we are weak because it has
never entered our minds that we might
10 strong.
1t Is not then, lst mo say, physicians as
now educated and employed, or medicines
as now Used, that will give us heaith.
What we need is instruction; not so much
OF new things as new ideas OF common and
familiar things Man, health. disease,
aud medicine are common words. They
must be invested with new or at least
right meanings
The perfect way Is science, not pseudo
scieEcs, the more ominous OF falliable
men. but science capable Of dem oDstration
like mathematics
As to the cause Of disease, physicians
seem to know very litls. and II we say
specific cause, they know almost nothing.
indeed 1t is a question that admits Of
grave doubts. whether they know the
specific cause cf any form Of disease what
ever. We speak not of individuals, but
of doctrines OF the schools. 80.
Now. If the people really knew that a
certain course Of lilo would always bring
pain, sickness or premature death. they
would not pursue that course. No one
purposely and understandingy Injuries
himself. 10 know and understand the
cause OF disease aud the conditions of
Lealth. Is to 10 well. Self knc wledge is
A "a L.n Man a. ,iVd hat
that may be--individualizsd by degrees
Of culture, and also by the human organ
ism which we call body. Ihe body itself
is not tho cause OF anything. il Is an ef-
feet, An instrument only for the soul. -.
Now. bacilli are material, and cannot
therefore be the cause of disease Dis
ease is slway the result of the nisconcep-
tion OF truth.
But the schools of medicine are still
searching in the material realm with mi
croscope and scalpel. to find the cause Of
disease Ii Is not thus. 1t is i'm the mind
and TO the mind we must go for iinal re-
lief from sickness Poisons may kill, but
they cannot make alive; and narcotics
may deaden pain. but they cannot bring
health. The vital force, the healing p jwer
is invisible. IL belongs to mind.
The Interests of the people are safe In
only one way-in understanding. They
must know for themselves. We do not
advise them, however, TO study medicine
as IL is today, but logic, philosophy, and
common sense rather.
Disease is n unit and has no plural 1t
is discomfort. or uneasiress always and
cverywhere. 1t is nothing else, aud'no
body IL any wiser or better for tho many
hundred. yea. thousands of comparatively
useless terms found In medical books
What more does the patient know when
told he has paresis, or loco-motor
etaxia?
These terms do not rfach the cause Of
disease, they serve only TO conceal i2nor-
anoe. What we want To know IN the
cause and cure. If We as mental beings.
do not listen TO the report of the sensory
nerves, we ieei no pain. Culture alone
Will fortify the soul against disease and for
titude belongs To mind, not 10 drugs.
Drugs teach rs nothing. Doctors also, as
now educated, nnd employed generally
teach US litils They are pill vendors,
prescription writer's, often poisoners, not
by intent directly, hut by custom, 10y
servile submit ission to falliblo book au-
tsority.
To preserve the body in health is re-
ligious duty. The health of the body is
necessary, not only for our own happiness,
bCt for the happiness Of others. The al
vine art OF living and the art OF healing
for tie two are one, double art--cau be
NOR. prottsbIy taught, not to few
only in medical colleges, not from
hundred voluLss of books. but to all:
and by usc of single volume or at
most. only two or three. Truth
is simple and the healing power is .
ways present The Power that heals all
wounds and oil diseases is not some pill
or powder. nor any material medicIment,
a. many suppose, but is an invisible
force
Ii is not yet twenty wears since IL was
known that the circulation OF the blood
is governed by sympathetic nerves. 49,.
Through them the soul, the seat of emo
tions, controls the circulation. This is
new in science and leads properly snd
directly To mental healing, or didacitc
medicine. A healthy emotion Is % remedy
far better than digitalis. The doctor of
tho future viii bs the teacher. ss of olu.
The drug system is tottering TO It's fall,
and LEGAL enactment even cannot long
prevent tine people from finding out a bet
ter way.
The trout in tie brook, the bird I'm the
air, or the tiger in his native taunts,
never becomes inDrm with eGe Why
sh ould insny l. the added gift of reas N
the curse that follows him ard makes
him an invalid and cripple! To think
that Is to imputc folly and even malevo-
lsnce to tho Creator. Man was made Co
DO woll and youthful always The work
of the lnDnte is peri fect Ii is the band
Of man alone that mars. ...
The true cause of disease Is not micro.
resnis ms. not any germs CT animal or
vegetable life. nor yet suy purely physi