Tell the Truth

What does spiritual living look like?

Increased longevity, harmonious living, health, abundance, never-ending supply, happiness, healing power, living in confidence, an all-absorbing spiritual love, unspeakable peace, and big, big blessings!

The story of a member of a prominent Utah Mormon family who became a great Christian Science teacher and lecturer.

Brigham Bicknell Young.

In this recent talk given at Unity Church of Knoxville, I took a different approach to the Ten Commandments by looking for the spiritual laws underlying these rules of behavior. When we tell a child, “No!” we are doing it for a reason—because we want them to learn the rules of life. What are the rules of life underlying the “Thou Shalt Nots” that God has given us? Here they are laid out for you.

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1 | Mark 1:4, 7, 8
John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

2 | Matt. 3:13-17
¶Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

These verses from this week’s Bible lesson tell the story of Jesus’ baptism and clearly show us the difference between the human mind and the divine Mind.

John’s baptism was one of repentance, of psychology, of doing what we can humanly to turn away from the mistakes of our past. It is that effort we make to turn 100% away from our mistakes—to not hold on to them, to make a determination that we will NEVER make that mistake, NEVER commit that sin again. Ever.

John recognized that while his approach was the best that he could do humanly, there was another higher, better, more effective approach—something beyond our human effort. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew it existed. He spoke of baptizing with water—an emotionally cleansing experience. That’s what he knew.

When Jesus came to be baptized recognizing, he was acknowledging that our human footsteps were necessary, but these scriptures also reveal the true baptism—the baptism of Spirit. It is revealed by the revelation that, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

God’s child, His image and likeness, is the true creation of God—not a weak, sinning or mortal man. To enter into the experience of life as grace, we have to leave behind our identification with a human, mortal personality, and accept, identify with, and live from the consciousness that we are God’s beloved child in whom He is well pleased—we have to live from the Truth. We have to give up our mortal, limited, and vulnerable way of thinking and begin to think as a spiritual child of God. We have to be immersed in the spiritual Truth of being.

While preparing for my talk this July 4th, I realized that I had never heard anyone define the terms, mortal mind and Christ mind, so I do it here in a way that can easily be understood. The lesson presented at Unity Church of Knoxville was based on a passage from 2nd Corinthians given below.

There are several powerful stories given here testifying to the power of the Truth to heal us — one of a healing I had of chest pain, and a healing of my practitioner who had an instantaneous healing of a broken bone. This is powerful stuff! Truth heals!

Here’s the scripture that forms the basis for my talk:

2 Cor 10:3-5 (NIV)
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Take a listen and be inspired! The Truth sets us free!

This accompanying meditation on our oneness with God is a powerful treatment for any sense or feeling of separation from God that we may be having. Take a listen.

Sometimes it is easy to feel that the human mind must work, work, work — do affirmations, meditate, study, and pray in order to correct a physical condition, but that is never the case. The work is always done, not to correct a material condition but to bring about a realization of the Truth of being. "Just so long as you are trying to spiritualize body, or to heal the body through your own mental effort, just so long as you are trying to create health, you are laboring in vain, for you are trying to do God’s part, to do that which has already been done." *MBE

The New Thought movement suggests that what is needed is to think thoughts that will bring about, or create, the conditions we wish to see manifested. The 3rd tenet of Unity, for example, says, "Human beings create their experiences by the activity of their thinking. Everything in the manifest realm has its beginning in thought." That statement is true. Our thinking affects our experience of life, but it is wrong to then assume that the resulting experience "creates" reality — i.e., that human thought is creative, or that man is a “co-creator with God”. "Cause does not exist in matter, in mortal mind, or in physical forms." SH 262:31

Perfect reality has already been created — God did it.   From a Christian Science perspective, the imperfect human experience of life is a dream (the mortal, or Adam dream), and it is only as we awaken to the Truth of being that we experience the reality of Life. It is the awakening to the Truth of being which brings about a healing, not visualization or holding to a desired picture in mind.

Using the human, mortal mind to work out our salvation (in the sense of building mental correspondences to desired conditions) shows an incorrect understanding of metaphysics. Mental work done from a human state of consciousness is a labor in vain because God has already created the body as spiritual, and a spiritual body is not subject to disease or physical conditions. "If we are Christians on all moral questions, but are in darkness as to the physical exemption which Christianity includes, then we must have more faith in God on this subject and be more alive to His promises." SH 373:1-5  Mortal mind is trying to recreate God’s kingdom in its own image — a kingdom which was already created and remains perfect and intact. Mrs. Eddy’s revelation was that, "There is nothing to change. There is nothing needed but to see God. ‘Stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord.’ " MBE

Divine Love has already met every human need. This is why Mrs. Eddy says, "Always begin your treatment by allaying the fear of patients. Silently reassure them as to their exemption from disease and danger. Watch the result of this simple rule of Christian Science, and you will find that it alleviates the symptoms of every disease. If you succeed in wholly removing the fear, your patient is healed." SH 411:27-412:1

Since Love has already met our needs — since God has never allowed mankind to fall into sin, disease or death — there is no need for fear and there is no need for human mental work. "Stop tinkering with it [the body] mentally. Loose it and let it go. Just know that it is God’s body and that God this moment and every moment is bringing it forth according to His Word, His divine idea." MBE

You can read the sort article by Mrs. Eddy here.

*Citations identified by MBE are taken from an article entitled, Body by Mary Baker Eddy.

by Mary Baker Eddy

"Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." Just so long as you are trying to spiritualize body, or to heal the body through your own mental effort, just so long as you are trying to create health, you are laboring in vain, for you are trying to do God’s part, to do that which has already been done.

We live in a universe of perfect form. Not only our body, but all that is formed is literally the body of God, and is perfect now. To believe that the infinite substance has been malformed through the ignorant mental activity of the individual, and must be redeemed and perfected through the same activity, is to see not one power, but two. There is no condition of the body. There is nothing to be rebuilt or straightened or healed. There is nothing to change. There is nothing needed but to see God. "Stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord."

All that we need to do — and it will keep us busy — is to train our thought faithfully and persistently in the acknowledgment of the truth of God’s presence, train it to judge righteous judgment, to see God and God only, to think God and God only. Having accepted the omnipresence, hold to it no matter what the apparent condition may seem to be. In treating yourself, never deal with appearances or symptoms. Do not center your thought on organs or functions. Infinite substance, power, intelligence and activity are in that place and do not need your suggestions.

Stop thinking about the body or trying to picture it as perfect from your standpoint. Our highest perception of the body today is far short of what body really is. Stop tinkering with it mentally. Loose it and let it go. Just know that it is God’s body and that God this moment and every moment is bringing it forth according to His Word, His divine idea. Jesus recognized Lazarus as an undying manifestation of God. You are that undying and perfect manifestation of God.

xi:9
The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus’ time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their reality in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation.

Disease is not natural or normal. God didn’t send it. Matter didn’t cause it, nor can matter cure it. It is not material in nature. It is not a result of a physical body gone astray. It can happen to no one.

There are no physical conditions including organic malfunctions that can cause it to appear nor upon which life is dependent. Disease is not any form of life, for Life is God and cannot cause pain, disease or death. It is not real for it is not of God.

Disease takes no longer to cure than it takes to change our mind. There is no pain in matter and therefore there is no physical pain at all, and nothing that can cause it.

174:30
We should understand that the cause of disease obtains in the mortal human mind, and its cure comes from the immortal divine Mind. We should prevent the images of disease from taking form in thought, and we should efface the outlines of disease already formulated in the minds of mortals.

Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary
Efface — 1 : to eliminate or make indistinct by or as if by wearing away a surface  < coins with dates effaced by wear > eliminate or make distinct by or as if by wearing away a surface : to cause to vanish < daylight effaced the stars >

Stretch your thought every day.

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