Healing 

THE "INCURABLE"

Janet Heineman Clements

The Gospel of Mark in the Bible tells of a father whose son was tormented with an illness that was apparently incurable.1 Explaining to Jesus that the disciples could not cure him, the father humbly appealed to the Master to heal his son. Jesus said to him, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." The father responded with tears, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." Jesus then "rebuked the foul spirit," and when it departed from the boy, many thought that he was dead. But Jesus "lifted him up; and he arose." He had been healed.

Jesus shared an important point about spiritual healing when he said to the father, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." What great promise there is in those words!

Just what kind of believing is required? The disciples wanted to know, for after Jesus healed the man’s son, they asked the Master why they hadn’t been able to heal him. According to Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus replied: "Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." 2

Certainly the "believing" that Jesus was speaking of—"faith as a grain of mustard seed"—was more than blind faith. It must have included at least a degree of conviction of the spiritual facts of existence, unseen to the material senses—the facts of God’s absolute supremacy and perfect care for creation. Such faith is undisturbed by the outward picture of things, even if it’s an apparently mountainous trouble. In the Glossary of Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy offers a spiritual definition of believing. Part of it reads, "Firmness and constancy; not a faltering nor a blind faith, but the perception of spiritual Truth." 3

How do we gain such a consciousness? Certainly the father in the Bible account honestly desired to leave his fears and doubts for the security of spiritual conviction, but he didn’t know how, and earnestly asked for help. Just as he humbly reached out to Christ, Truth—represented by Christ Jesus—to show him the way to healing, so we can mentally kneel in humility before the always present Christ and find healing.

Christ presents to human consciousness the uninterrupted perfection of man and woman in their true being as the spiritual image and likeness of God. Christ saves us from false beliefs about ourselves and others by showing us what’s really true. A consciousness filled with what is true does not respond to what is false. Being conscious of who we are in Truth enlightens thought with the glory of God so that no dark images of fear, disease, or sin can exist there or be manifested on the body.

In her writings, Mary Baker Eddy makes clear that the body is embraced in thought. Our focus in healing through prayer, then, is on thought alone. Even though a physical condition might appear convincingly real, it is actually only a phase of mortal thinking objectified—superimposed—on the body. What incurability 
really suggests is that there are certain states of thought, fixed with doubt and fear, that will not yield to the healing activity of the Christ.

But there can be no incurable disease, because there can be no incurable thought, no thought that can withstand the irresistible power of Christ. As God’s image, we reflect the one divine consciousness, which excludes everything unlike itself, anything contrary to pure good. As children of God, we all have this consciousness, this knowing of what divine Mind knows. The humble conviction of our unity with this Mind, in which there is no evil belief to be objectified as a harmful physical condition, opens the way for us to experience Christ’s healing power.

A family I know of had the opportunity to demonstrate the "believing" that Jesus spoke of and to live the "prayer and fasting" that are sometimes essential for healing. This resulted in the complete cure of a supposedly incurable illness.

While their son was at school, he became unconscious. In order to be readmitted afterward, he was required to have a physical examination. The examination indicated that he had epilepsy. The doctors said that there was no cure for it and that the medicine that was available had harmful side effects. Therefore they did not insist on a medical solution. They urged the boy to continue his normal activities in the best way possible, although his schoolwork was severely hampered by this condition.

Because the bouts of their son’s unconsciousness would occur suddenly, his parents embraced him in unceasing prayer, watchfulness, and love. A Christian Science practitioner was praying for him from time to time, and the son realized that he also had a role to play in this healing. He wrote down passages from the Bible and from Science and Health that were comforting to him, and he endeavored diligently to live his prayer in his words and actions.

The mother found that nothing less than continuous prayer and fasting were required. Her prayer included the unyielding conviction that as the reflection of God, her son did not have a consciousness separate from God that could be overtaken by disease or fear. His true consciousness, expressing divine Mind, could never be unconscious. The divine Mind, God, is indivisible, and each identity, expressing God, is forever one with this Mind. Therefore there can be no divided consciousness. Science and Health states, "The divine understanding reigns, is all, and there is no other consciousness." 4

God, Mind, not brain, is the source of all consciousness. Human theories state that a material brain produces electrical impulses that govern the body. Science and Health states, "Electricity is the sharp surplus of materiality which counterfeits the true essence of spirituality or truth,—the great difference being that electricity is not intelligent, while spiritual truth is Mind." 5 How reassuring to understand the spiritual truth that the identity of God’s creating is not in possession of a material brain that can malfunction but possesses "the mind of Christ," 6 as St. Paul puts it. God’s children are truly governed by the message of Christ, the law of God, the impulses of divine Love. This Christly consciousness is unconscious of matter and is conscious only of God, good, and all that He imparts. Divine Mind holds every thought in perfect order. This is our true consciousness. It is uninvadable, and expresses perfect balance and poise.

The mother also found it important to understand that the only action ever being initiated comes from Mind and is in accord with the harmony of divine Principle. There can be no involuntary action of matter or disease.

The main need was for a consistent, deeply felt, total conviction of and pure fidelity to that which is true of God’s child. The evidence of disease was certainly aggressive many times, as it was in the Bible account. But the clear perception of spiritual truth enabled the parents to fast—not take in what the material senses were suggesting. When we’re conscious of the reality of Spirit’s evidence, the material picture of suffering and disease is seen for what it is—illusion. Consistent fasting in this way was a key to the healing.

The healing came one night when the son felt the blast of the illness coming on. His mother said to him with the most heartfelt and pure conviction, "You are all right!" Those simple words were so undergirded with an understanding of the nowness of his true, Christlike consciousness, that his fear vanished, and the symptoms passed. One last time that night, the illness clamored for expression. Like the servant of Elisha who saw the chariots of fire round about his master,7 protecting him, the parents felt the angels of God’s presence round about their home, and saw that nothing could penetrate or invade that holy, healing presence. Through "believing," prayer, fasting, and the grace of the ever-present Christ, there was a full healing. The son went on to graduate with honors and to be an engineer at a major corporation.

The dear, comforting love of Christ is always with us, and it imparts the healing conviction of Truth. This frees us, and enables us to prove that "all things are possible" to those who believe. 

1 See Mark 9:14–29.

2 Matt. 17:20, 21.

3 Science and Health, p. 582.

4 Ibid., p. 536.

5 Ibid., p. 293.

6 I Cor. 2:16.

7 See II Kings 6:17.

I am the son mentioned in the article "Healing the ‘incurable’" by Janet Heineman Clements.

This healing resulted from the efforts of the entire family and was the culmination of years of spiritual growth for all those involved. I will never forget the strength, commitment, persistence, and faith my parents expressed during this sometimes discouraging and . . . challenging time. There were many instances when I wanted to give up and submit to the great fear that seemed to reign over my existence, but through spiritual growth I was able to see that there was truly only one way to go—one cause, one effect, one Truth, One God. Victory.

The truth about our true self as being perfect and sinless is ever present. The material senses suggest otherwise. When you see the unreality of fear by radically relying on Truth, it flees effortlessly. God is leading you and meeting your needs . . . 

This healing was just one of the great blessings that resulted from this experience. I am truly grateful for the efforts of everyone who contributed to the healing result.

Christopher G. Cook
Chicago, Illinois
 
 

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