Taken out of a metaphysical context the statement, “God is the truth," seems like one of those overarching edicts which sound nice but don’t seem particularly relevant to day-to-day living. Even Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor given the job of examining Jesus’ guilt seemed totally non-plussed by the whole question.
The issue of truth arose, as we read in the Gospel of John, in the following exchange which took place between him and Jesus.
John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
John 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?
As one says in today’s parlance: Pilate just did not get it. He did not understand the significance of Truth in its metaphysical context. To be honest neither did I appreciate the real importance of Truth until a rather remarkable healing occurred recently.
At the end of 2014 a lady (not a member of our church) visited our reading room. We had several discussions about Divine Science and how it effects healing. She was assiduously reading and studying both the lesson sermon and Mrs Eddy’s text book, Science and Health with key to the Scriptures. On one occasion she remarked to me that she was concerned for her daughter. Despite being very well qualified she was unable to find work. My response to her was quite simple. “Your daughter has qualities given to her by God, so someone is going to find those qualities attractive.” And that is where the conversation ended.
A few weeks ago she reappeared in the reading room, her face covered smiles, indicating that she had some good news. I assumed that her daughter found a job. “Not at all”, she replied. “She became pregnant, and she is thirty-seven.” I rejoiced with her and marveled at this news but then she added “But you have no idea how much of a blessing this is. The doctors had told her that it was physically impossible for her to conceive”.
Again I rejoiced, but after she left the reading room I began to consider carefully the whole unfoldment that had just taken place, the sharing of truth and the subsequent blessing which had occurred. My quandary was that the sharing had been effortless, without any intent on my part save to share the truth as I knew it. I knew this daughter had to be blessed but I had not outlined what the blessing would be, but the healing nonetheless occurred. Furthermore none of actors on this stage could claim it was «their» healing because it had occurred without a specific directed effort to overcome sterility. That it was God’s work was very clear to all!
For several days I prayed hard to understand the lesson of this healing because this blessing had occurred whereas other issues I had been working on had not been resolved. What lessons could I take away from this occurrence which I could apply in the future?
After a couple of days I was able to see this healing in its correct light. It became clear to me that Truth had been shared and Truth had implemented itself. I had not been concerned with its implementation because I had no consciousness of the challenge of infertility. I was uniquely concerned, as was her mother, with the Truth of this daughter’s true being and her God given talents as they were bestowed by God.
But I then had to ask myself “Why is just the knowing of Truth so powerful”. Immediately the answer came back “Because God is Truth”. Then I understood: when we know Truth we know God. If we have the Truth, we have God. This is the point that Pilate had not been able to see. Neither had I , up until this point. The widow of Zarapheth understood the importance of truth when she saw her child healed by Elijah declaring “Now I know by this that thou are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth” 1 King 17:24.
Up until the arrival of Jesus on the human scene God was seen as some superhuman mensch who appeared from time to time to effect miracles and behaved in a somewhat mysterious manner. Jesus however cast God is a very different light indicating that God was entirely spiritual and not the slightest bit human or whimsical. He was a perfect state of Mind which just did not countenance error in any form. All of which help us understand Jesus’ admonition «Be ye perfect , even as your Father in heaven is perfect». Mrs Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science church defines God in her textbook Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures as Life, Truth and Love. A man is not Life Truth and Love but he reflects Life, Truth and Love. We are like musicians who play music but in our spiritual construct the music we express is these spiritual qualities. And guess what? If we are to be children or expressions of God that is exactly what is required of us, the expression of Life, Truth and Love.
What makes the expression and understanding of Truth especially important and critical to healing is that it enfolds the operation of divine law. Mrs Eddy came to understand that if you understood the nature of God it would displace, as a matter of law, the apparent claims of evil which appear as sin , sickness and death. Why? Because Mrs Eddy realised that these errors could not stand in the place of God, Truth as a matter of law. For example, if you know you have money in the bank no one could ever convince you that you were poor. The truth is that you are wealthy and no counter argument could prevail precisely because you knew the truth about your financial situation.
You can take the same logic and apply it to metaphysical facts. If, for example ,you understand the truth that God is the exclusive power in your life ( which is a divine truth ) then you not only understand that no other power can operate to your detriment but you understand this as a matter of divine law. A conviction then appears which is supported by truth and by law and this necessarily heals. Many find this difficult to take on board because it appears to be slightly strange but it is no more strange than the truth that boats float. There is a law of buoyancy there to support boats even though it is somewhat curious. But why question the existence of the law? The point is that we should take advantage of it.
Hence we begin to understand why Truth is a vital element in the healing process. The object of Christian Science practice and healing is to understand or figure out the particular truth or nature of God which displaces error. Sometimes we are only too well aware of the truth because we have encountered the problem before. Sometimes it appears to be a novel issue we have not come across before but we have at our disposal two great books in the Bible and Science and Health which help us unpack the truth we need to know. Anyone who has ever read the fruitage section of Science and Health will realise that there are few problems which have not been healed in these pages.
However in all travails we must never forget that the understanding of God ,which necessarily involves the truth about His nature, is what we are really all about. If we understand God then we necessarily understand the nothingness of sin, sickness and death because they have nothing to do with His nature. It is for this reason Jesus advised «3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.» John 17 Jesus understood the truth about God’s nature and it was this understanding which made him the Christ. By the same measure it is our understanding of Truth of the nature of God which also blesses and gives us the kingdom, free from sin, sickness and death.
Thanks for this very helpful contribution. I was recently praying for my son, who was having a challenge at work. I got a clear picture of his perfection as a child of God, which rectified the situation. But I also discovered that I had been healed of a back problem that had recently been bothering me. Your explanation helps show why this happened. Thanks so much!
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