Being a lie detector
The Bible is full of accounts of human needs being met solely through turning to God in prayer. These include the provision of food and shelter, the healing of disease, and safety from danger. These experiences span a range of peoples, locales, governments, and centuries. So what do they have in common aside from God and prayer?
In my study of Christian Science, I’ve found that the commonality is Christ, which Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, describes as “the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 332). This divine message existed before Christ Jesus’ time and continues today. It is God’s truth and love correcting the lie of mortality – the lie of life and truth in matter – so that the spiritual harmony, already present, can be perceived.
Jesus clearly demonstrated the efficacy and reliability of detecting and correcting a material lie in order to uplift and improve human experience. He varied the prayer to address the individual need. But the truth being expounded – the truth of God and His constant care – did not vary. And the result was always the same: A lie about God’s creation was destroyed, and human experience shifted to manifest the immortal truth that man is governed by God alone.
We can be lie detectors and eliminate lies masquerading as truth in our consciousness. We recognize the lie by seeing clearly that any inharmony, however it is presented, could not be the truth about God’s always-harmonious creation, which the Bible describes as spiritual and good. Then we replace the material lie with the spiritual reality.
Mrs. Eddy writes (referring to Jesus), “Our Master, in his definition of Satan as a liar from the beginning, attested the absolute powerlessness – yea, nothingness – of evil: since a lie, being without foundation in fact, is merely a falsity; spiritually, literally, it is nothing” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” p. 108).
How encouraging to know that evil is not included in God’s creation at all. Therefore, there is nothing permanent about evil – it is a lie about God and His creation. A mistaken concept.
Of course, there are times when recognizing the nothingness of a lie can be challenging – when a problem seems especially threatening, attention-getting, or stubborn. But we can confidently claim Truth’s dominion over any lie, since Truth is God, All, and therefore everywhere present.
Recently, after enjoying a dinner with my family, I went outside to put the grill away. I did not realize that it had been left on and had continued to heat during the entire time we were eating. As I touched the grill, I burned my hand, and the pain was immediate and intense.
I declared, pretty energetically and loudly, what I knew to be true about God’s creation, including me, as constantly maintained in harmony, constantly protected in divine Love. The pain abated quickly as I contemplated the spiritual facts. Material belief argues for accident as a possibility, pain as an outcome, and recovery as a process. It suggests that a gap in God’s protection of His creation could exist and allow my harmony to be undermined.
I prayed to realize what God knew of this situation. Because God is Spirit, His control had to be exactly the opposite of the material lies being presented as facts. Divine Love, encompassing its creation, does not allow for accidents or any inharmony. No gap in protection can exist.
Relief came when I detected the lie and remained firmly, vehemently rooted in what I knew was true. Within an hour all pain had left my hand, and by the time I went to bed that evening, there remained only a slight discoloration, which was fully gone when I awoke the following morning.
Whether a discordant situation seems to require shouting the truth of God’s, Spirit’s, perfect creation or a quieter listening to God to hear divine Truth and uncover the lie, we can trust that perfect Love, God, is forever at hand meeting our needs. Our confidence can always rest in Truth’s undefeated record of dispelling the lies of mortality and bringing harmony to light.
Adapted from an article published in the June 6, 2022, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
