The true basis of health

A tennis partner intimated that she lacked the stamina to play another set. After her withdrawal was considerately accepted, she remarked to me, ''Oh, I wish I had your health!''

But health is not really a personal possession, given to some and not to others. It is a gift of God to all His offspring, without exception. In Science and Health with Key to the Scripturesm Mary Baker Eddy n1 declares, referring to God, ''Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals.'' n2

n1 The Discoverer and Founder of Christan Science.

n2 Science and Health, p. 13.

To anyone plagued with ill health or uncertain health, this statement may seem unrealistic. But the fact of God's impartial and perfect care is as provable now as in the time of Christ Jesus. His healings of disease and infirmities of many kinds were evidence of a clear understanding of God's nature , and also of man's true being as the likeness of God. The Master taught that God is Spirit, and he illustrated through his works that the creation of divine Spirit is spiritual and ideal, despite what false material views suggest.

Christian Science maintains that the Master's healings were not, in the truest sense, transformations of bad matter into good matter. Rather, they were the bringing to light of reality, of uninterrupted spiritual harmony, just as the passing of a dark cloud reveals the perpetually shining sun.

Man's real being as the reflection of Spirit is inviolably spiritual and whole. The Preacher declared, ''I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it.'' n3 This remains true through all the ages. As long as we base health on matter, however, we lay ourselves open to the weaknesses that flesh is heir to.

n3 Ecclesicstes 3:14

The universal conviction that matter is the actual substance of life is the misconception that underlies the ills of the flesh. The only genuine and lasting remedy for disease, then, lies not in dosing or manipulating matter but in replacing the false belief, the lie, about man with the truth of what he really is - divine Spirit's reflection.

Science and Health, the Christian Science textbook, states, ''Health is not a condition of matter, but of Mind; nor can the material senses bear reliable testimony on the subject of health.'' n4 Mind in this instance refers to God; it's a term for Deity implied in the Bible.

n4 Science and Health, p. 120

The source and cause of disease are actually mental, not physical. The tears coming from the eyes, the flush suffusing the cheeks, are everyday indications that the human body is the objectification of thought. The understanding that God, divine Love, expresses only abundant good in man, including health, nullifies the fears and sins and misconceptions - the elements of materialistic thinking - that lie at the root of bodily malfunctions. It is the Christian healer's privilege and practice to remove from the suffering mentality its belief in the power and reality of disease.

What a joy it is to realize that every single one of us can progressively find freedom from the fear of germs, epidemics, and the like - and from their supposed effects. The changeless truth is that God made a perfect universe of spiritual ideas and that a material sense of that creation is a supposititious distortion - despite its apparent substantiality - without actual substance or truth. To the degree that we live in accord with God's law, following the Christly example of Jesus, we can demonstrate this God-given health throughout our life. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Bless the Lord; O my soul . . .; who healeth all thy disceases. Psalms 103.2, 3