Christ-Healing

ONE of the things that has always impressed me about Christ Jesus is his compassion. His love for mankind was so great that he healed the people who came to him for healing. This healing love is the essence of Christliness. And to some extent all people who are devoted to healing strive to express this kind of love. As Jesus' example shows, such spiritual love doesn't just make us feel better about being sick; it actually heals disease. It could be argued that while Jesus was able to heal disease through his Christly love, when he was no longer here that healing power was lost to us. There is strong evidence against this, however, in the healings that the disciples, including Paul, were able to do after Jesus' departure. And Jesus himself promised, ``He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.''1

This implies that those of us who wish to follow in Jesus' footsteps can do so through practicing the Christian healing he taught. Accepting this as an intellectual fact is one thing; actually acting on it is something else. When I first began to study Christian Science, I wasn't at all interested in healing. I simply wanted to know more about God. But as my study advanced, I began to see how health relates to one's understanding of God. An improvement in our knowledge of God should lead to an improvement in our health.

In her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, provides a standpoint completely different from the material one. She writes, ``The supremacy of Spirit was the foundation on which Jesus built.''2

Since Spirit's very essence is love, harmony, peace, anything unlike these and other spiritual qualities cannot possibly come from God. As the children of God, we are totally spiritual, inseparable from Him. We can express only those qualities that are true to our divine heritage. These spiritual facts can be the basis for prayer that will lead to healing.

Here is an example. Some months ago I was suffering from an illness that included a very severe sore throat. Since I have been healed through reliance on prayer, it was natural for me to turn to God in this situation. I certainly had some way to go actually to express more of my disease-free nature as the spiritual child of God. I had to strive to understand ``the supremacy of Spirit,'' which brings healing.

Though I knew God would help me, He seemed far-off. So I prayed to see if there was something more I needed to grasp about my relationship to God. It seemed to me that if I could understand what I felt I was missing, I would be living more as the child of Spirit and I would be healed. What finally came to me as I prayed, though, was that I needed to affirm my actual spirituality instead of thinking of myself as a mortal trying to gain spirituality and petitioning Spirit for healing.

After I realized this, whenever the throat caused me pain, I diligently affirmed my spirituality as God's offspring, affirmed that I was totally spiritual then -- and always had been -- so I could never be subject to matter with its sickness and limitations. This steady prayer brought about change in my condition. In a very short time I was well.

From this experience I saw that Spirit, God, really is supreme and that the healing Christ -- the truth of God and man -- is present today. Spiritual healing is available to all of us as we strive to understand Jesus' teachings and to follow in his footsteps.

1John 14:12. 2Science and Health, p. 138.