CHRIST-THOUGHT vs. HEREDITY-THOUGHT

“Sickness is neither imaginary nor unreal,– that is, to the frightened, false sense of the patient. Sickness is more than fancy; it is solid conviction. It is therefore to be dealt with through right apprehension of the truth of being” (SH, 460).

One of the greatest fear-inducing myths in modern medicine is the law of heredity, which condemns people to disease, even before they have exited the womb, often long before the predicted disease is supposed to manifest itself in the body. It takes the fear-inspired rumination process described in Mrs. Eddy’s allegory of the “The Trial” (SH, 430) to an even more exaggerated level of disharmony. It is like arresting, trying, convicting, and imprisoning someone for committing a crime not yet committed, in the belief that it will be committed in the future. “Genetic counseling” is no different than the now-defunct theology of predestination, which posited that a newborn baby’s destiny – heaven or hell – is the unalterable, arbitrary decision of a distant, sovereign Judge.

“‘It was Fear who handcuffed Mortal Man and would now punish him. You have left Mortal Man no alternative. He must obey your law, fear its consequences, and be punished for his fear'” (SH, 436).

Although intended to be helpful and friendly, this chaotic way of thinking about illness dreamt up by modern medical thought is not friendly at all. The solution to this? “…[T]here is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24): the Christ-thought, embodied in the promises of God: “Perfect love casteth out fear.” “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” “Lo, I am with you always.” The heredity-thought is the anti-Christ thought, error posing as a friendly shadow that is “with you always”, fiercely seeking to stick even more closely, nearer than hands and feet, a wolf in sheep’s clothing with one purpose only: to replace the Christ-thought with itself, and then “to steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10).