Overcoming The Fear Of Disease

‘When fear disappears, the foundation of disease is gone’, writes Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health with key to the Scriptures. Healing follows. But if that is all it takes to be healed of an ailment, how come there isn’t more healing in the world, and why such a persistence, even proliferation, of disease? The answer is not farfetched. The terrified thought struggles to let go of fear, oftentimes finding it impossible because of the aggressiveness of the symptoms presenting, or because of the hopelessness diagnosis instills.

Telling an individual not to fear, though a first step, is not sufficient. The next step is to explain why they should not be afraid; but the ultimate step is to prove fear groundless through healing. Willing an individual not to fear, wishing away disease, or blindly ignoring symptoms, is not what brings about healing. It takes consecration of thought, devotion of time and energy, in order to gain a spiritual understanding of God. This spiritual activity in turn begins to reveal that spirituality is man’s true nature – indestructible and healthy. It follows therefore that it is this true understanding of who God is and what He is doing for man made in the divine likeness [Genesis 1:26, 27], which not only overcomes fear, but saps the foundation of disease, and heals.

Spiritual thinkers like Eddy proved this in their healing experience. She wrote compassionately about how fear and worry beget and foster disease, attracting thought to the continual and unhealthy contemplation of the subject of sickness, thereby further exciting the fear of disease. This often results in dosing the body in a bid to avoid ill health – a warning also echoed by medical doctor, Lissa Rankin, creator of Health and Wellness Communities who says fear and anxiety can lead to what she calls over-medicalization.

Eddy however provides the avenue to overcome and destroy fear. Being a Christian, she cites the method of Christ Jesus as a surefire way to overcome fear and bring healing. Jesus usually began his healing with the words ‘Be not afraid’ or ‘Fear not’. Eddy shares how she discovered the ‘how’ of healing like Jesus, in her aforementioned book. Today, around the world, those interested in spirituality and healing, irrespective of their faith or denomination, attest the efficacy of this healing method.

To anyone struggling with illness or the fear of it, it is well to remember that fear starts with a thought, therefore it takes a thought in the opposite direction – spiritual thought grounded in God – to overcome it. To anyone in robust health, it is well to know and affirm that the immutable source of good health is God. Spiritualization of thought enables individuals to prove that recovery or preservation of health is not a theoretical, unachievable goal, but is practical. Spiritual study and faith bring a clearer understanding of God and man. It overcomes fear.

Thus, it destroys what may seem to be the immovable foundation of sickness. Many, including some members of the medical faculty, are finding that this spiritual activity aids the healing process and can actually eal outright.

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