Milford chronicle., 1959-04-10

Il
this she was convinced that not
the drug but the individuals state
of consciousness brought about
| the desired change. Later she
| found that the human mind was
not a reliable agent in the heal
ing process. Mrs. Eddy had al
ways been an earnest student of
the Bible. When she herself was
healed through prayer, and when
her prayers successfully, healed
others, she was convinced that
the only safe therapy is the di-
vine. This conclusion came to her
| through reason and revelation
and from her own careful study
of the Bible, based upon the spir-
itual truths it contains. Right
thinking contributed to that con-
clusion, thinking which did not
deviate from the spiritual fact of
the First Commandment. Signifi-
cantly she writes (Science and
Health, D. 340): "The First Com
mandment is my favorite text. 1t
demonstrates Christian Science.
1t inculcates the tri-unity of God,
Spirit, Mind; it signifies that man
shall have no other spirit or mind
but God, eternal good, and that
all men shall have, one Mind"
It was deductive reasoning
which led Mrs. Eddy to discover
the truth about man. She saw
that since God is good and is the
only creator, then man must be
| good, in perfect agreement with
the Scriptural record in the first
chapter of Genesis. Since God is
Mind, man must express intelli-
gence. Since God is Love, man
| must be free of the inharmony of
disease and the fear of it. Since
God is Principle, man must be
SinleSS. But she diScerned clearly
that this man of Gods making is
not the human, fieshly, mortal
sense of man, for to admit such
a conclusion would be to aban-
don the method OF scientific right
thinking. To start with q mortal
sense of things instead of with
the infinite is to end in confusion.
Mortal existence is the product
of carnal mentality-physical-
mindedness instead of spiritual
mindedneSs. It is a belief in a
mind apart from God, of exist
ence in matter instead of in
Spirit. "To be carnally minded
is death" (Rom. 1867, writes st.
Paul. "The carnal mind is en-
nifty against God" (Rom. 8:7l, he
declares, and it is this counterfeit
mind, this misconception of be-
ing, which is responsible for what
is designated mortal man.
Now to correct this misconcep-
ton, where should one begin?
With the counterfeit? With what
seems to be the effect? Why, no.
Follow faithfully, as Christ Jesus
did, and as Mrs. Eddy sets forth
clearly in Science and Health, the
deductive method of reasoning.
Start with cause, begin with God
in the reasoning process, and you
will come to that glorious con-
clusion voiced by st. John Il John
3:2): Beloved, now are we the
sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear,
we shall be like him; for we shall
see him as he is" You will dis
Germ that man, the. image and
likeness of God, Spirit, is not ma
terial, but spiritual. He is not
mortal, but immortal. He is the
individual expression of God,
good.
Spiritual Thinking
Now our use of the term fright
thinking in this lecture applies
exclusively to spiritual thinking,
for unless ones thinking is
basically spiritual, unless it has
the underlying motivation of obe-
dience to the First Command
ment, an earnest, consecrated eff
fort to have the Mind which was
in Christ Jesus, it becomes little
more than wishful thinking.
Many books and magazines
have been published in the last
twenty-five years on the subject
OF positive thinking, or mental
health. Some of them are inter-
esting and a few may be helpful
to a degree, but most of them are
essentially efforts to encourage
thinking along humanity positive
lines They espouse the method
OF mental suggestion on the
theory that if one thinks along
affirmative lines long enough he
will make such thinking part
of his experience. They are based
on the belief that life is in mat
ter. Such methods are not Chris
tian Science and should never be
confused with it. They deal al
most exclusively with the So
called human mind, believing
that it has the power of health
and well-being, a theory which
contradicts the oneness of Mind
established by the First Com
mandment.
Spiritual thinking, on the other
hand, enables one to comprehend
the Science of being, the Science
of the Christ. Spiritual thinking
fulfills the observation of ST.
Paul, ITO be spiritually minded
is life and peace" from. 8:6). It
includes the necessity of bringing
thought into accord with the di-
vine will, of being consciously
aware of Gods presence and
power, of spiritually understand
ing Him, Such thinkinp iS nr,vor
1t is not just wishing things to be
good, but recognizing that ev-
erything God made must be good,
and understanding the reason
why.
The Science of the Christ is
the Science of spiritual-minded-
ness. It is the application of the
First Commandment to human
experience. 1t calls for the daily,
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