'I Have Found A Ransom'

I had never really given much thought to that statement from the Bible's book of Job until recently (33:24). Suddenly I was struck by how grateful I am to have found my own "ransom"-a means of release and freedom from life's troubles. I've found that a growing understanding of my unbreakable relation to God brings daily progress and physical healing.

Study of the Holy Bible, together with Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, nurtures my growth in understanding who God is. Because of what I have learned through this study of Christian Science-God's healing law-I have been healed of colds, warts, corns, flu, headaches, and sprained ankles, as well as of financial and relationship problems. And I've found good guidance in securing employment and housing. In other words, I have found a way of life that is practical and satisfying.

Mary Baker Eddy, who wrote Science and Health in 1875, ordained it, along with the Bible, as the sole pastor of the Christian Science Church, which she founded in 1879. The first tenet of Christian Science is this: "As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life" (Science and Health, p. 497). Life and Truth are capitalized here because they are two synonyms for God, as implied or stated in the Bible. They are employed to emphasize particular aspects of the divine nature. Other synonyms for God reiterated in the study of Christian Science include Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit and Love.

Two of the fundamental points of Christian Science teaching come from the first chapter of Genesis: (1) "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (1:27) and (2) "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good" (1:31).

It is in understanding our identity as God's image, the "very good" image of Spirit, that healing is found. This spiritual identity is the only real and correct one. The physical body constitutes a false concept of oneself, whereas the truth of our spiritual perfection is real. This is something Christ Jesus demonstrated. Even a momentary glimpse of this truth brings healing.

For instance, my healing of corns, mentioned earlier, came about in this way. I'd had two corns on each foot for some time. While I was walking one day they were particularly painful. I began to pray, referring to what I had learned about my spiritual identity in my study of Christian Science. Almost immediately the thought came, "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter." Those words begin "the scientific statement of being" from Science and Health, which continues, "All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all" (p. 468). "That's right," I reasoned. "Corns have no more intelligence than the shoes I'm wearing."

I held to the fact that matter-in this case corns-has no substance or intelligence, because Spirit is the only substance and intelligence of my being. I stopped thinking about my feet. And when I happened to look at them only a day or so later, all four corns were gone. You might say I had found a ransom; I had gained my release from that particular physical problem, and that freedom was so complete that I haven't had another corn in over twenty years.

Whether facing a relatively minor problem such as this one, or a more alarming one, you and I can heal as Jesus healed, proving that, by reason of our spiritual origin, we cannot be subject to sin, disease, or even death.

God is our real substance now and forever. This healing truth, or ransom, is available to everyone. The Bible contains this truth, Science and Health explains it, and spiritual healing confirms it.

You can visit the home page of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, at (www.tfccs.com).