The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1917-01-25

I
taken into the light and he would see
Then when he was returned to the
darkness he would sense it as dark
ness,-the absence of light. So it is
impossible for there to be sense OF
darkness except as there is first q
consciousness of light. This is equally
true of strength and weakness. II
is just as impossible for there to come
a sense of weakness, except as there
is first consciousness of strength
If there had never been conscious
ness Of strength as part of what God
created, there would never have beer
a sense of weakness.
So the moment when God said, "Let
there be light" which is equivalent
to saying, let there be strength, and
let there be health, and let there be
holiness, was the first moment where
in there could have come a sense of
darkness and weakness, and sickness
and sin. For every good and perfect
thing which God has made, there has
in like manner come a sense of its
absence,-an opposite, a lie, without
reality or substance
When God said, "Let us make man
in our image, after our likeness" SO
that man was made in His likeness,
spiritual and perfect and immortal,
there came sense Of the absence of
that spiritual and perfect and immor-
tai man; and the sense of the absence
of spiritual and perfect and immor-
tai man would be a material and i'm
perfect and moral man: that
is, mortal mind and a mortal mater
ial body called man.
The New Testament calls this mate
rial or mortal mind the "carnal mind"
or mind of the flesh. We are distinct
ly told that this carnal mind and its
manifestation, carnal body, sis enmity
against God;" that "flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom;" that
"they that are in the flesh cannot
please God" So it is plain that God
did not max the mortal body, for his
own thoughts, His own ideas, cannot
be at enmity with Him.
Now this material body cannot do
anything Of itself, but is simply the
expression of the conscious or uncon-
scious thought of the mortal human
mind. Investigation proves that all
sickness is mental, that is, it is sick
thought made manifest on the BODY:
and when we are well it is well
thought which is made manifest on
the body. Every function, every ac-
ton, every condition of the body, is
the expression of what we are con-
sclously or unconsciously thinking
from one moment to the next.
If a man were hungry and food
which was placed before him had
Snr1a- hir7or oil arr+ y l,+ j
lngly unappetizing, it would appar-
emily be his stomach which protested
because the thought which he enter
tanned about the food would be made
manifest on his body; but what would
his stomach know about the food?
Absolutely nothingl If he believed
that the food was all right, this
thought would be made manifest in
proper activity of the stomach; and
If he had eaten food believing it to
be all right and had then discovered
that it was all wrong, his changed
thought would be made manifest in
changed function-in nausea, indi
gestion, and so forth.
In like manner, to believe that cold
or wet could harm US would be lust
as disastrous to the lungs or the
throat as to believe that unappetizing
food could make the stomach sick.
1t is not necessary to know each
particular mortal belief, or so-called
law, in order that we may appropriate
the slcknesses and troubles they stand
for, because we have accepted the
false belief that man is subject to all
manner of diseases, the nature of
winch he IS unaware, and this belief
insists that we may have any sort of
trouble to which flesh has claimed to
be heir.
As we see that both sin and sick
ness are simply manifestations of
mortal though, thoughts of imperfec-
ton, we also see that by putting the
thought of the perfection of God and
all that God has made in place of this
wrong thought, we shall rule out the
wrong thought; and with no wrong
thought there can be no wrong mani
festation. The Bible makes this iden-
tical statement when it saws "Put
of concerning the former conversa-
ton the old man. which is corrupt ac-
cordlng to the deceitful lusts; and be
IN the spirit of your mind:
ana put on the new man, which
after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness
To those who are just beginning the
study of Christian Science the nothing
ness of the material man is the most
proposition to accept. The
logic of the argument of the infin-
lite perfection of Mind, God and the
spiritual creation seems clear to most
OF us, but the equally logical and
correlated argument of the nothing
ness and unreality of the material
causes US more trouble. This |
point will become clearer as our spirit
lal perception enlarges. for in the
proportion that the spiritual creation
becomes real to us, the material loses
its reality.
| have often been asked the oues- |
lion, If this mortal material BODY is /
not of God-if it isn't so-what am
going to do about it? what am /
going to think about it?
Well, don't try to. get rid of if all
1t once. Be content for today to get
I'D of the very worst things YOU know
about it,-those things that are so
obviously unlike God, so contrary to
h. L.