Mastering the fear of disease
Have you ever found yourself fearing some form of disease? Maybe some news item or TV program has triggered the fear. You think about the ailment and possibly detect what appears to be a bodily symptom - and you begin to reach doleful conclusions.
How self-imposed this is! How unnecessary! There is at hand the means of totally rejecting such a scenario, and so disposing of it. If we lift our thought to God we can replace the fear we are tempted to entertain with the realization that God is ever present, maintaining us as His perfect image. We can say with the Psalmist, ''The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?'' n1
n1 Pslams 27:1
The first step in attaining this de-sideratum is to know God better, to discern more clearly His ever-present goodness, His omnipotence, His complete control over all. As we can learn from the Scriptures, He is divine Life, Love, Mind, the only cause and creator. His creation, then - including the true identity of you and me - must express His perfection and wholeness without interruption.
As we perceive more of our true selfhood as a child of God, spiritual and perfect, we can see more clearly that evil - the very opposite of God - cannot be true; that its claims of sickness, disease, affliction of any kind, are false , without an actual foundation or source. Then the fear lessens and finally disappears. With the fear destroyed, the body resumes its healthful functioning.
It is extremely helpful to turn our thought away from the body. So long as we dwell on physicality, examine the body for defects and abnormalities, note every little imperfection and fault, we are nurturing fear. How much better to follow the admonition of Christ Jesus and ''take no thought . . . for the body.'' n2 We need to turn to the divine fact that our true individuality is made in God's image and hence is spiritual and perfect, now. Fear cannot develop when our thought is anchored in the truth of being.
n2 Luke 12:22.
The need is not for a clearer picture of matter's claims, but for a clearer understanding of God's loving presence, revealing man's exemption from evil and providing us with the spiritual strength that ensures the overcoming of whatever is baneful. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, advises, ''Look away from the body into Truth and Love, the Principle of all happiness, harmony, and immortality. n3
n3 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 261.
There are other ways, too, by which we can lessen anxiety and turn our thought away from the fear-producing suggestions of the carnal mind. We can watch our conversation. Some people love to talk about their aches and pains, describing them in great detail. But we don't have to indulge in this, and with the desire to avoid it we will be led to turn such conversation to areas that emphasize good instead of evil. We can avoid listening to or reading news accounts that stress diseases and their destructive natures. This is not to ignore evil or to pretend that it doesn't claim existence, but to bring a measure of healing to humanity by refusing to attribute power or truth to that which has no actual power or truth.
This contemplation of good is our most important task. How helpful it is to dwell on the divine fact that God is Love, the one Supreme Being, ever present and all-inclusive, controlling all in immutable harmony. Love is always at hand to shield us from error - in fact, it excludes error. Love's care is constant, and we can turn to it to support us as we steadfastly cling to the truth of being. As we do this, fear and the lie of evil will be seen for what they are - nothing.
Remember, God is not afraid; neither is His perfect expression, the real identity of each one of us. This truth helps master fear. And with the fear fully destroyed, so is the disease. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10
