Several minutes later Walter was on his way to the pract.i.tioner's. In due time he was back and told his father she had promised to come that evening at 7:30.

CHAPTER XII

A FAIR INVESTIGATION

Promptly at 7:30 the door-bell rang, and Walter went to the door to welcome the pract.i.tioner; he showed her into the parlor and called his father. After a formal introduction, the Rev. Williams asked both the pract.i.tioner and Walter into the library, the pastor being afraid he might have some callers that would know the pract.i.tioner, although he did not state his reason for going to the library.

After being comfortably seated, the pastor said, "Mrs. White, I think it only fair to you to state that I have always been very much prejudiced against Christian Science and would not even now have consented to have an interview with you if it had not been for the persistence of my son."

"Mr. Williams," said the lady, "I don't believe you could be any more prejudiced than I was, and I only consented to try it after every other means had failed to cure me, and as I was not made well after one week's treatment I became skeptical, and wanted to stop taking treatment. But my husband said, 'Let us give it a fair trial, as there is nothing else for you.' The fact is that nearly everybody is prejudiced against Christian Science, and yet none of those who are can give you a reasonable answer why they are, and as a rule know nothing at all about it. So it does not seem strange to me to find you in this frame of mind."

"I suppose my son has told you he found a 'Science and Health' and that he believes reading it has cured him."

"Yes, he told me, but you make a mistake when you say he believes reading the book cured him; he doesn't believe it, he knows it."

"Why do you say he knows it, Mrs. White?"

"Because if he did not know or understand the truth that 'Science and Health' contains, he would not now be well, for these are the signs following, spoken of by Jesus Christ."

"Excuse me, Mrs. White, but I don't seem to catch your meaning; what signs follow the reading of 'Science and Health'?" "Simply reading 'Science and Health' will not help us, although it is a step in the right direction. It is when we understand the truth contained therein that the signs follow. Jesus Christ said, 'These signs shall follow them that believe, they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall be healed, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.'

If we use the word 'understand', instead of 'believe', we get a clearer view of what Christ meant when he said, 'These signs shall follow them that _understand_.' And as the same truth that Jesus Christ taught is contained in this book, the understanding of it must be followed by the same signs."

"But I am not willing as yet to concede that this book does contain the Christ Truth," said the pastor.

"Mr. Williams, when you were attending school, suppose the teacher had given you a mathematical problem to solve, and had said, 'You will find the rule by which this example can be worked on page 105, and the correct answer is 18.' You would have looked up the rule and started to work the example. If when you were done the answer you got was 18, you would know at once that you understood the rule, and had applied it correctly. Thereafter you would not merely believe that you knew the rule, but you would know that you understood it. So it is with the sick; take your son's case, for instance; he found a 'Science and Health,' began to read and study it; in it is printed the rule of health. After a little study he understood this rule. He then applied it correctly and got the answer, _health,_ and this is sufficient proof to him that the scientific method of healing the sick as Jesus Christ did, is contained in this book, and no amount of argument to the contrary can ever convince him that it is not true, any more than it would have been possible to tell you that you did not understand the rule by which you solved your mathematical problem after you had secured the correct answer. Correct answers are the signs following, or proofs of understanding, of any science."

"Then it is not G.o.d that does the healing, but the correct application of a rule," said the pastor quickly.

"Oh, yes, it is G.o.d that heals the sick; for instance, when you were working the problem mentioned above, you found the rule on the page indicated by the teacher, but the rule did not do your problem, neither did the mere application of the rule do it, but it was your intelligence, or mind, that directed the correct application of the rule that solved the problem; so to Mind must be given the credit of the solution, for the rule could not do anything without Mind to direct the application. And so it is with the rule of health; it is in 'Science and Health,' but to be benefited thereby it must be correctly applied by the intelligence of man, which is his mind."

"But this statement contradicts your first statement."

"In what way, Mr. Williams?"

"In the first instance, you said it was G.o.d that did the healing, and now you say it is the intelligence of man, or mind."

"Mr. Williams, do you believe G.o.d is all intelligence?"

"Yes, certainly."

"Then He must be the intelligence of man, or his mind, otherwise G.o.d would not be _all_ intelligence." The pastor sat perfectly still, fully absorbed with his own thoughts. Mrs. White waited a few moments, then continued: "What I have said in regard to applying the rule is in full accord with the teachings of Jesus Christ wherein He demonstrated the necessity of us working out our own salvation."

"Mrs. White, you say that G.o.d is the intelligence of man, or his mind."

"Yes, for G.o.d is _all_ intelligence."

"You also say that G.o.d is good only."

"Yes, G.o.d is _all_ Good."

"Then according to this theory that G.o.d is all intelligence, you must admit that He is also the bad or evil intelligence found in some men, and if this be true, you could hardly claim that He is all good, for one statement would contradict the other," slowly said the pastor.

"You have made a mistake in your reasoning, Mr. Williams. A bad intelligence is not intelligence, but a lack of intelligence, or non-intelligence; in other words, ignorance, and ignorance has no place in the realm of intelligence, for ignorance is evil, and intelligence is good," said the pract.i.tioner. "Your explanation sounds very reasonable, but I am not yet willing to agree with you; it may be because I do not fully understand," answered the pastor.

"I do not think it possible for man to fully comprehend any science in a few moments, and this science is the science of sciences."

"Am I to understand that evil and ignorance have no place in the universe; in other words, are not real?" asked the pastor.

"Yes, the good alone is real. It is only through ignorance of the truth that evil seems real, or has place or power."

"But we see evil all about us," said the pastor.

"This seems so, but it is only a misapprehension of the truth, for evil is not real, has no ent.i.ty or principle, G.o.d (Good) never made it," said the pract.i.tioner.

"But if it is not real, and G.o.d did not make it, where did it come from?" asked the pastor.

Mrs. White's face broadened into a smile, and then she said, "Mr.

Williams, I think I will tell you a little story that I wrote to one of my patients who was suffering from a claim of indigestion. She insisted that evil was real, and offered up the evidence of her indigestion as proof thereof. This little story came to me as I was thinking of her case. It may enlighten you on the origin of evil as it did her. Now for the story."

CHAPTER XIII

THE UNREALITY OF EVIL

"Once upon a time long, long ago, there was a great and good king, who lived in a country where everything was good. He had thousands of subjects under him, and these subjects were all good. This was because the king was good and the people strove to be like him. But one day one of his people imagined she saw an evil thing or devil, and became greatly alarmed thereat. She hurried home and told her husband what she had seen, and he believed her story about this evil, or devil (that never had any existence, only in the imagination of this woman). And because of her great fear of it this woman kept thinking of this evil constantly, until at last it seemed very real to her, and after a time she imagined this evil, or devil, had entered her body and was stopping her stomach from digesting its food. She also told this to her husband, and he became afraid of this myth, and told his friends that an evil, or devil, had entered the body of his wife. His friends began to talk about this evil, or devil, wondering what it might be. At length, after discussing it for some time, they decided they didn't know what this evil was, but that it ought to be given a name, so called it indigestion, because it had stopped the woman's stomach from digesting her food. In this way this imaginary thing became real enough to have a name. After the people had given this evil, or devil, a name, they all began to make suggestions of how best to get rid of him. One suggested that a plate be made hot and applied to the stomach. This, he thought, would make it so uncomfortable for the devil that he would leave. Another suggested that the woman take a strong dose of peppermint and burn the devil; another suggested that they manipulate the stomach, i. e., pull and haul and pound it, hoping in this way to kill him; another said, let us attach an electric battery and shock the devil.

Another said he believed that devils had an aversion for blue lights, and thought that if they would let a blue light shine on him, he would leave. Another said, give the woman a bath of mud, let her be covered all over with soft mud, and this will smother the devil. Still another suggested that the woman be sent away from home to another climate, he thinking the devil might not like the change, and so leave the woman. Hundreds of other suggestions were offered and tried, but none of them succeeded in driving this devil out of the woman. And now, after several thousands of years, the people are still offering advice to this woman, but with no better success. The simple reason why all these things did not succeed in driving out this evil, or devil, is that in reality there wasn't any devil to drive out, as it was only an imaginary thing and had no existence, only as an illusion in the mind of the woman. About 2,000 years ago, there lived a man who was intelligent enough to understand what the trouble was. He said that there were not any evils, or devils, and that G.o.d, or the Creative Principle, was _good only_, and that evil was a lie, or delusion, and proved His words by His works. This enraged the wise men of His time very much, for they had been teaching the people that evil was real, and that in many instances G.o.d put evil upon His children to make them good. These wise men were sore afraid that the people would believe what this good man was teaching and denounce their teaching. So they conspired together and had Him crucified, and still continued their teaching that evil was as real as good. About forty years ago, a woman, intelligent and good, became conscious of the unreality of evil, and after a careful study of the life of this man who was crucified, she discovered that all this good man had said and taught regarding the unreality of evil, was the truth. She wrote a book explaining this great fact, and said, 'If the people would study this book, they could prove for themselves that there weren't any evils, or devils.' As in the time of the good man that was crucified, so in her time, the wise men were teaching the people that evil was real, and as the teachings of this woman were contrary to their teachings, they became enraged; and if it had been customary to crucify people in her time, she would have been crucified.

Since that book was written, many thousands of people who imagined they had evils or were possessed with devils, have, by reading and studying this book, discovered that all of the evils, or devils of the past and present were imaginary, and seemed real, because we feared them. This book also teaches that the _only_ way to get rid of these imaginations, or false beliefs, is to use our G.o.d-given intelligence and reason rightly, and then we would discover the nothingness of these evils, or devils, and our fear of them would depart, likewise the evils, or devils, no matter under whatever name they might be masquerading, as it was only our ignorance of the true facts, coupled with our fear, that made them seem real. So with this woman, who imagined she saw an evil, or devil; if she had not feared it, she would have investigated and consequently have discovered its unreality."

As Mrs. White finished her story, she looked at Walter, and by the way he nodded his head she was sure he had grasped the truth of her story.

Then, glancing at the pastor, she said, "Mr. Williams, does that answer your question, as to the unreality and origin of evil?"

"Mrs. White," said the pastor nervously, "That story answers my questions so fully that I haven't any foundation to stand on, and as I have been preaching the reality of evil these many years I am at a loss to know what to say or do."

"Do not worry or get excited, Mr. Williams, Every person is more or less confused as his old idols and G.o.ds are destroyed, but fear not, for out of this destruction will rise an intelligent temple with G.o.d, Good, the ruler thereof."

"But I am at a loss what to do. I have discovered the fact that I was mistaught in regard to the reality of evil, and now I fear that all the rest of my teachings may be at fault and I cannot conscientiously preach what is false, as G.o.d knows I would not wilfully mislead my fellow-man. I am afraid I will be compelled to give up my position at once, and feel I am not fitted to do anything else." He then glanced at the pract.i.tioner and said, "Mrs. White, can you offer me any advice?"

"Yes, first of all, remember that there is room in G.o.d's kingdom for all His children. Second, remember that your real source of supply is not your church, but G.o.d; trust in Him fully, and your every need will be supplied. Third, I would advise you not to give up your position on the spur of the moment; take time to consider, study 'Science and Health,' and see if it is what you want. If it is, you can then send in your resignation. If not, no one need be the wiser that you have been studying the book."

"But I cannot conscientiously preach one thing and believe another."

"Then, Mr. Williams, I would suggest that you ask for a vacation for six months, as I understand from what your son told me, that it has been a long time since you have taken one, and by the time six months have pa.s.sed you will know what is best for you to do.