Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1914-10-08

true Christian prayer-"Not my will.
but thine, be done" Such prayer,
lin his name,'' is answered in heal
ing the sick, reforming the sinner,
and in supplying all our needs.
Healing Not Through Suggestion.
The healing power which Christ
Jesus utilized in his wonderful heal
ing work was not understood by the
people who witnessed these works
Some who recogI lied the fact that
this healing was brought about
through mental means alone refused
to believe that the healing power was
divine. and said that it was evil, act
ing through the human mind; name
ly, through hypnotism. They cried
out, This fellow doth not cast out
devils, but by Beelzebub the prince
of the devils" So also today many
admit that Christian Science heals
mentally, but they insist that this
healing is accomplished through hyp-
notism. They do not'understand the
nature and power of divine Mind
Since Christian Science healing in
wolves knowledge of spiritual truth,
a recogniation of material error, and
the application of this truth thereto,
this healing is not effected through
mental suggestion, or the influence of
one mind over another. 1t is not
mental domination, nor the exercise
of the human will, and it is essential
to right apprehension of Christian
Science that this should be clearly
understood.
For example,: When a mathema-
tician corrects a mathematical error,
it is not his will which makes this
correction, but the mathematical
truth which he knows and applies.
The power is inherent in the mathe-
matical truth and not in the will of
the mathematician. When an i'll or
sin is healed in Christian Science, it
is not the will of the Christian Sci
the spiritual truth which he knows
and applies to the human error. The
power is in the truth itself, not in
the human willie Jesus said, "Ye
shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free" This definitely
distinguishes Christian Science from
hypnotism, magnetism or mental sug-
gestion of any form. The hypnotizer
endeavOrs to secure control of his
patients mind, to dominate it, and'to
superimpose upon it his own thought
and purpose, he it good or evil.
Hence the danger of this method.
Knowing the. nature of God and
the real man to be spiritual and per-
feet, the Christian Scientist recog-
nizes the fact that the diseased or
sinful conditions are but false mes
meric states OF C nsciousness, and he
applies his understanding of divine
Truth as the remedy He knows the
unreality of the appearance called a
sick man, just as the mathematician
knows that two times two do not
make five, even though he sees it
written out. Re knows that they
make four regardless of appearances.
Jesus said, Judge not according to
the appearance, but judge righteous
judgment.
Absent Treatment.
The healing OF patients who are at
distance from their practitioners
has frequently been misunderstood
and pronounced impossible, notwith-
standing that Jesus healed the centu-
rion's servant and the nobleman's
son without being present with them.
This misjudgment arises from the
mistaken belief that the healing is
accomplished through the transmits
sion of thought, and that distance
hinders this transmission. In Chris
tian Science healing there is no
thought transferRce, for mortal
mind is not a factor in the healing.
The divine Mind being omnipresent,
thn bnnlan EDnUinu Of fhn
garding a sick man at a distance
brings Truth to bear on the case the
same as if he were near by. In the
realm of Spirit there is no space, no
time and no sick man. All is infinite
Mind and its perfect, ever-present
ideas.
1t is important to see that Chris
tian Science healing includes a denial
of error as well as the affirmation of
the truth, the reason for this being
that the belief in matter, sin and
disease is so fixed in the human con-
sciousness that specific denial helps
to weaken and destroy that belief
This denial can be made only from
the basis of spiritual truth; it is but
the reverse side of the declaration of
truth, and it is the truth alone, not
the denial of error, which heals. In
deed, the keynote of Christian Sci
ence healing is the knowing of the
allness of Spirit and the nothingness
of matter.
Summary.
To epitomize: In Christian Sci
ence healing we must first know the
nature and character of divine real
ity, then see that what is termed ma
terial existence is wholly mental, and
that sin, disease and death. are not of
God, but are manifestations of erron-
eous states of human consciousness,
and therefore neither true nor au-
thoritative. We thus perceive that
we do not have to be sick, for God
did not make us so. When spiritual
knowing dominates consciousness.
the error-banshing influence of di-
vine Truth and Love establishes har-
mony.
AS with the healing of sickness, so
is 1t with the healing of sin, the over
coming of evil. We must see that
1t is not of God, divine Mind; that it
is therefore unreal and powerless and
no part of man. This correction of
thought with spiritual truth destroys
the error, the impulse to do wrong.
Sin causes suffering so long as it is