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12 THE LAKE SHORE NEWS, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1920 â-  4 I'ViN that without the Logos "was not any thing made that was made." This word "made" is used hundreds of times in the New Testament and never in the sense of "to make" or "to create" but means a present activity; that is, to come, or, to come to pass. The divine manifestation is then simply the expression of spir- itual ideas and must of necessity be altogether spiritual. Isaiah cor- roborates this conclusion by saying, "All flesh is grass, and all the good- liness thereof is as the flower of the field: . . . The grass withereth. the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." Not flesh, but God's spiritual idea, the word, is real and endures. And the Master while maintaining that the kingdom of God is within youâ€"that heaven is a state of consciousnessâ€"also main- tained that flesh and blood could not enter. So then spiritual conscious- ness excludes matter. It is quite frequently maintained that Christian Science denies the divinity of Christ, although this is absolutely contrary to the fact. Con- sistent with its teaching that God is Mind and that man is God's perfect Mea^Jt„. rnainialas that- tlve -Christ-1* "the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error" (Science and Health, p, 583). John defines the Christ in the statement, "the Word was made flesh." The "Word"â€"that is the di- vine ideaâ€""was made flesh,"â€"not created flesh, for this word "made" is never used in that sense,â€"but come to the flesh. Christian Scientists heartily agree with this thought, they gratefully acknowledge that Jesus manifested the Christ, the divine idea, revealing in his words and works the true nature of God and man. We can all manifest in some degree the divine idea which Jesus manifested, fot "of his fulness have all we re- ceived." To the degree that we really understand God do we de- monstrate the Christ in our daily liv- ing, fulfilling Jesus' prophecy, "The works that I do, shall (ye) do also." Through patient faithful effort we shall eventually come "unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." - The slightest amount of spiritual understanding put into practice brings forth abundant results, and faith as a gain of mustard seed is sufficient to remove mountains of error. Two very noticeable things about students of Christian Science are their daily study of the Bible and the freauency with which they pray. Most of those who are seen reading the Bible on railroad trains or in other places are Christian Scientists, and they are reading not "to be seen of men" but because its pages have been ilnmined to them through the study of Christian Science, and they allow nothing to deprive them of their reading. Prayer Many times in a day a student of Christian Science finds opportunity and necessity for prayer. If, as has been maintained. Christian Science is consistent with the teaching of the Master, it will be found not only that the prayer of the Christian Scientist conforms logically with its teaching but is absolutely in accord- ance with the instructions of the Master. He gave to his disciples a prayer, and in addition^ very definite instruction about praying for those things which they desired. The Lord's Prayer understood heals the sick. When we realize that there is no other kingdomâ€"that is. that God rules over all and that sin and /disease have no powerâ€"then the prayer, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory," will heal the sick, not because we simply say these words but because we say them and understand that they are true. Tn the Gospel according to Mark the Master says. "What things so- ever ye desire, when ye p**ay, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." The Revised Version puts it, "What things soever ye de- sire, when ye pray believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have them." The attitude of the revisers has been to make changes only when the previous translation was mani- festly wrong, so we should be able to accept this latter translation as cor- rect, especially when we consider the which was probably not familiar to fact that it is a method of prayer those who made the translation, and no doubt many people who are num- bered among the followers of Christ would scarcely understand how they could consistently offer such a pray- er. To the Christian Scientist it is the definite confirmation of his meth- od of prayer. We have prev:ous1y brought out the fact that God is Mind and that man is the perfect idea of Mind, manifesting all the qualities of Life and Truth and of Love. When, therefore, there comes to human consciousness a thought of sickness and we desire to be conscious of health, we declare in the words of the Master that we "have received" health because it is the spiritua' fact that God's child is always well, and we find that the Master's promise, "and ye shall have it." is fulfilled to the degree we have understood. The reasoning of Christian Science brings divine Love close to human Christian Science Lecture -^ (Continued from Page 9) finite number of ideas or thoughts, which must be expressed, and the activity, the expression, the mani- festation of these ideas constitutes man and the universe. God's ideas express Him in countless spiritual forms. As God's ideas we exist in Him and because we exist in Him the Scriptures so declare that "in him we live, and move, and have our being." There is a further quality of an idea which it will be necessary for us to consider. An idea has no ability to do anything or to be anything ex- cept as the idea of the mind in which it exists. It cannot change itself and so become more, or less, or different. than mind intended it should be, be- cause it has no volition of its own and must of necessity express exact- ly what mind intends it should ex- press. For example: If you have a thought of love for your neighbor this idea cannot get away from you and change itself into a thought of hate. The ideas in Mind must of tiecessity express exactly what Mind intends they should express. Now the real man is, as we have shown, the perfect idea df infinite Mind, an has only divine volition. He h-> therefore no ability to choose to do evil or to be sick, nor can he ever become separated from, the Mind which contains him. Man .then. God's image and likeness, has all the qualities of God, and not a single Siality that is not of Him. He is erefore healthful and holy; perfect Spiritual, and immortal. What are these qualities which man as the idea of infinite Mind must manifest? The various terms for God Refine His nature, and every syn- onym is used because it expresses some quality of Deity which was not so readily apparent in any other term. i.ife, Truth, Love, Soul, Spirit. Principle, Father-Mother, are but â- Other terms for Mind, each express- ing its own peculiar character yet readily interchangeable with any other term, so that it is just as cor- rect to say that man is the idea of Life or of Love as to say that he is the idea of Mind. Life, Truth, and feove'are the three terms that together express Mind most completely, and man who is Mind's idea expresses Life in per- fect, healthful, immortal existence, expresses Truth in his manifestation of spiritual being, which alone is real •hd true, and expresses Love in the infinite manifestation of the goodness Of God. Unreality Of Matter Because it is true that man is the idea of infinite Mind he cannot be material* and this material bodv will h?»ve to be accounted for it: some other way. Matter seems very real to the human mind, yet the deepest material thinkers maintain that mat- ter has no existence in and of itself. They say that it is simply a mani- festation of tow. Our education has been such that we have accepted any material object such as iron, or wood, or stone, to be very real and sub- stantial and as having that sub- stantiality within itself. It can read- ily be seen that the seeming sub- stantiality of a piece of iron is not within the iron, for if the material laws of cohesion and attraction which bind the atoms and molecules to- gether, the law of gravitation which gives the iron weight and the various Other laws which go to make, up its material appearing were removed the iron would vanish into nothingness. So these material thinkers see and admit that matter is .simply a mani- festation of material thought, but they «go on with a line of thought which maintains that these material laws proceed from the Infinite Be- ing. Now Christian Science agrees with them in admitting that matter is simply an expression of thoupht but denies absolutely that this thought is of God. On the contrary it main- tains that the material man and the material universe are expressions of beliefs that are counterfeits of the true ideas. On page 60 of "Miscellane- ous Writings." Mrs. Eddy has said that "every creation or idea of Spirit bas irs counterfeit in some matter be- lief." AH the beliefs which are term- ed material laws .the beliefs known as sin, sickness, and death, the be- lief in a material man and a material universe are counterfeits of the spiritual creation. These various be- liefs are not of God because they are contrary to His nature. The ma- terial man manifests sin. sickness. and materiality, which are the direct opposites of those qualities of health. holiness, and spirituality, which the real and spiritual man must inevit- ably manifest as the image and like- ness of God. The material man is therefore but a counterfeit, an ex- pression of material belief and not of that truth which is God. It is not maintained that we have been able fully to demonstrate that matter is unreal, but thousands have been able to annul what are thought to be unchanging material laws through the recognition o fthe taw of Spirit. Now to break and annul any of the laws of matter through the application of spiritual law. proves that they can all be overcome when we understand God's law more fully. For the present we apply our under- standing of the Jaw of Love to those material conditions of sickness and sin which trouble us most and which we most clearly see are no part of God's creation. Out Of. Matter Into Spirit In beginning the study of Christian Science one need not trouble about the doctrine of the unreality of mat- ter. The vital thing is to learn more about God. As our spiritual under- Vstanding increases, one after an- other of our material beliefs is seen to be false,, and healthful material conditions and harmonious mental conditions,are brought about through our righteous thinking, and we are encouraged to press on till we shall have completely demonstrated the unreality of matter. We get rid of the belief in the reality of matter only by degrees; but the destruction of any single diseased condition by mentally un- seeing it is proof that disease is mental, and falsely mental. If it were not it could not be changed by correct thinking. Every physical healing resulting from Christian Science treatment is evidence not only that disease is mental but that matter itself is but an expression of material thought. Entirely apart from the conclusion deduced from Christian Science there is ample evi- dence that disease is mental. There are many authenticated instances of persons who have been instantane- ously freed from long established in- firmities through some sudden men- tal shock such as fire or lightning. A^ mental shock could not destroy disease unless the disease were in ht:man consciousness to be destroyed. Manv peculiarities about disease which are readily explainable from a mental standpoint are accounted for materially through the most fantastic flights of speculation. Material Beliefs Deceive Since the advent of the germ theory of disease there has been a constant effort to include as many diseases as possible in this category. The very fact that the previous conviction of the cause of a disease could be so readily discarded for the belief that irerms were the offenders shows how hesitant the world should be in ac- cepting any conclusion along this Line. Some investigators became convinc- ed that certain microscopic forms of vegetable life which they found nresent in disease were the cause of <t. They conducted experiments which to them seemed to prove con- clusively that this was true. The foundation of their theory was that eaclr disease was produced by a dif- ferent germ; that is that the pneu- mococcu* produced pneumonia, the tubercle bacillus tuberculosis, and so on. A few of these germs were such common everyday sort of vegetables that they were present no matter what the disease and so they did not count very much, but there were a dozen or so that were sufficiently select to be accounted the cause of a many diseases. Unfortunately there are many diseases that seem contagi- ous or infectious, but there are not enough varieties of germs to go around. No suitable germ has been found for many of the diseases which are presumed to be caused by them. and this failure is often accounted for by maintaining that these micro- scopic growths are so small that the most powerful microscope fails to re- veal themâ€"a most accommodating theory. To add to the confusion it is now asserted that the pneumococ- cus which was presumed to cause pneumonia is not the only germ which produces it but that there are several others. And these germs are found in as great numbers in the mouth of a healthy person as in that of a sick one. so that it would seem to the unprofessional observer that it might just as well be argued that the healthy person's health is due to germs as to maintain that the sick one's sickness is caused by it, since the same germs are present both in sickness and health. Moreover, the germ theory could only be established by maintaining that there is just one particular germ for each disease, causing its peculiar train of symptoms, for in no other way could the individual character- istics of the disease be accounted for. But once having established the belief that germs nroddce disease and finding repeatedly that the right one was not present, it was necessary to maintain that some other germ was the offender, in spite of the fact that this offers the basis for dis- proving the whole germ theory, he- cause it is an admission of the exact opposite of the foundation on which it rests. Now many physicians are beginning to recognize the difficulty in which they find themselves: the confusion and contradiction of it all. They are hep-inning to state that it is probable that germs do not cause disease after all. because one after another of the most fundamental conclusfon about them are being shaken. T'ne things that seemed amply prov- ed a few years ago are now proving to be false. Thousands of cattle, comprising choice herds of milch cows, have been destroyed because bacteriologists "knew" that they had tuberculosis and were giving it to humanity, yet now they "know" that cows never caused a single case of human tuberculosis. And anyone who responded to tuberculin as a test for tuberculosis was branded as having it, although now it is found that 95 per cent of well people re- spond to this test and the healthier they are the more vigorously do they respond. The more recent history of disease â€"the apparent control of some con- tagipus condition on the one hand and the uncontrollable epidemic on the otherâ€"is baffling to the material- ist but an open book to anyone who has some degree of spiritual under- standing. Results Of Wrong Thinking All the varied beliefs in disease may be likened to a river of material thought. At one time it was a wide and shallow stream spread out over a great breadth of materiality, for there were many supposed causes and conditions regarding it. An ineffect- ual effort was made to stop its flow entirely by a dam composed of all the material curative measures in use. A constant effort was made to stop the leaks and repair the breaks which the beliefs in sickness made in the dam, with whatever was believ- ed would best serve, whether it was medicine, or climate*. rir_dietr j>£- s&ras other so-called curative measure. The total amount of sick beliefs that were going over the dam was not lessened at all, but they did not often break through very violently in any one place. As time went on the beliefs changed; the river became narrow and deep. Its sourceâ€"the beliefs in diseaseâ€"had not grown less, but the channel of thought through which it flowed was narrowed down so that it covered less ground, because the many and varied beliefs regarding the cause of disease had in most in- stances given way to the belief in germs. The dam still obstructs the flow of the stream and the beliefs in disease break through as before. The belief in germs breaks through per- haps in the form of diphtheria, but there is-a comparatively strong be- lief that there is material on hand which will stop this difficulty. Then perhaps the germs break through in typhoid, but here too there is ma- terial which at this time is believed in with sufficient confidence to stop the flow. But finally the belief in germs breaks through as influenza or pneumonia, where there is no ma- terial belief which is sufficiently strong to stop it and it flows until it is down to its normal level. It is inevitable that just so long as the world builds up its belief in dis- ease that diseas will be manifested. It may delude itself into thinking it is making progress by apparently checking some one disease, but the total manifestation is not lessened in the least. , The only way to be rid of disease is to stop it at its source. The be- liefs from Vhich it proceeded must be replaced by spiritual understand- ing. Then shall we see in place of this stream of sickness and death the river of life which John saw. "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." Not ma- terial medicine but the leaves of the tree of life, which is watered by the river of life, which proceeds from the throne of God, has God provided for our healing . The Bible Revealed Because Christian Science is the statement of the divine laws of Life, Truth, and Love, which Jesus taught and demonstrated so many centuries ago, the spiritual understanding gained through its study unfolds the Scriptures in a most marvelous way. Language has developed down through the ages so that we now have terms which were not in use in Bible »-i?n<*9 and which are particularly helpful in teaching spiritual facts. One of these is the word mind. When the Old Testament was writter. there seems to have been no such word in use and where this word is found in our King James Version the origin- al is invariably some word like "breath," or "mouth," or "heart." In the New Testament/, written hundreds of years later, the words which are translated mind are from a great variety of words, none of which seem to have the exact mean- ing which we give to it. John's Understanding Of Truth The Apostle John had an unusually clear understanding of the Master's teaching. We find that he begins his Gospel with a statement of the fundamentals of Christian Science, and although the word mind is not used, his argument is that all that is real is a manifestation of thought. He says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." This term "the Word" is from the Greek Logos, which means (Dan idea or concept, and (2) the expression of that idea. Now no idea could have existence apart from mind, so that John's statement coincides exactly with Mrs. Eddy's statement that "All is infinite Mind and its infinite mani- festation" (Science and Health, p. i468). J Moreover John specifically denies that matter is of God when he says experience. The recognition that' God is Mind and that man is His perfect idea is the basis for Chris- tian Science healing. When we measure our thoughts by this divine standard and undertake as far as possible to entertain only that thought which we know to be of God, the thought which has made us sick or unhappy is eliminated. . * The Effectiveness Of Truth The belief that one knd of disease or abnormal condition of the body is harder to heal than another is not the fact, and this erroneous thought should be denied. No wrong phy- sical condition can be manifested for an instant except as it is the ex- pression of wrong thinking, and right thinking eliminates one wrong thought as readily as another. Every claim of illness or sin or of discord which comes to Christian Science for healing is not a task to be done but one more welcome opportunity to prove again that Christian Science heals. "Progress is the law of God," Mrs. Eddy has said, and it is im- possible to study God's law without making progress. Like the child with .his- --dailyâ€"4es3©ft5-,-- we- may* nofbe conscious that we know more to-day than we did yesterday, yet with added understanding we should ap- proach the problem with confidence to-day, which yesterday seemed not to yield. As a result of much experience in Christian Schience I do not hesitate to say that a physical diagnosis of disease is not only unnecessary but may be harmful. It is sometimes pro- posed on the ground that it will enable the Christian Scientist to know just what conditions to deny. What is needed is the recognition and declaration of man's perfection as the divine idea, and whatever is contrary thereto should be denied. We do not need to know more about disease but more about God. A fam- ous physician has said that in his diagnoses he has been wrong half the time. What is the use of denying beliefs from which the patient has never suffered? The thought that an uncovered medical belief can frustrate divine Truth is giving to materiality a power it does not have, We need to know that Truth de- clared heals not only that which is seen but that which is unseen. One to whom a healing comes slowly and by degrees is heard to say, "I wonder what is holding me?" If you have been made to believe that there is something holding you, that is all that is necessary to retard your pro- gress. On the Western plains a saddle horse is trained to believe that when the reins are thrown on the ground that it is tied to that spot. It is prevented from moving only because it believes that there is something holding it. We need to see that there is nothing holding us but divine Love, and nothing to prevent the healing. Our Divine Inheritance The real man is Mind's idea and inherits divine intelligence and per- fect form and function. It is be- lieved that man inherits both good and bad phsical qualities from his parents. Every physical condition is thought manifested, so then the in- heritance is not in the physical manifestation but in the thought which produces it. It must be ap- parent that the truth can as readily replace a belief which came from one's parents as one coming from any other source. Heredity is not a law. but a belief, and the applica- tion of the law of divine inhertanee, perfect God and perfect man, not only destroys distressing hereditary conditions, but improves and trans- forms every other inherited quality and characteristic. Climate has no power to harm or to help. Rheumatic sufferers leave some locality, believing it to be detriment- al, while others suffering from the same difficulty come to this same spot for its beneficial effects. The (effect which sometimes follows a change of climate is brought about by the changed thought. All that is needed to get rid of the belief that climate can injure one is to become conscious of the atmosphere of Spirit. • One after another of the material beliefs which have bound us are an- nulled through the application of spiritual law, and we are learning that food, or water, or cold, or heat, or dampness, or dust, or contact with our brother man. never had any power to harm us. for the divine idea comes in contact with nothing but that which is harmonious and healthful and manifests only the goodness of God. The divine Principle corrects inharmonious and unsuccessful business conditions, and sorrow and disappointment are re- moved by the law of Love. ^ F.ach inharmonious condition which is overcome through spiritual under-, standing increases one's conscious-^ ness of joy and harmony. Envy, jealousy, malice, and every form of sin, are destructive of peace and happiness. We shall not have ap- propriated the divine blessing fully until we have overcome sin as weTI as sickness. Every effort towards; sniritualtty and away from that which is material brings a rich re- ward. "He that overcometh shall inherit all things: and I will be his. God. and he shall be my son."