This year the United States is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which famously proclaims, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, considered the struggle for human liberty in the American Revolution, and the struggle decades later against human slavery in the American Civil War, to be precursors to the struggle that God gave her to lead after she had discovered the Science of Christianity.
In June of 1888, addressing the National Convention of her students, Mrs. Eddy declared, “Christian Science and the senses are at war. It is a revolutionary struggle. We already have had two in this nation; and they began and ended in a contest for the true idea, for human liberty and rights. Now cometh a third struggle; for the freedom of health, holiness, and the attainment of heaven” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” p. 101).
Along with the ascending scope of the previous two struggles, this third struggle would be for a wider freedom, not simply for the people of one nation, but for all people for all time. Mrs. Eddy writes at length about this universal freedom which is God-given, and therefore at hand for all right now. This freedom includes the expression of health, harmony, sufficiency, and the ability to think and act rightly. And this freedom is inherent in Christ Jesus’ teachings and healings.
What can appear to be a struggle – sometimes an intense one – is to let binding tendencies of what the Bible calls “the carnal mind,” and correlatively what Mrs. Eddy calls “mortal mind,” be uprooted “through the action of the divine Mind” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 225). Regardless of our circumstances, as we acknowledge and accept our God-given freedom, we tangibly experience it step by step in our lives and can support others in experiencing it.
Each day can be an opportunity to experience what the Bible calls “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
Throughout my life, I have had many healings through the practice of Christian Science demonstrating this “glorious liberty” from many types of bondage. One healing I had this spring was particularly special.
One day I began to feel ill around the middle of the morning. The symptoms came quite fast, and I quickly felt weak and lightheaded. I was addressing the situation through prayer, as I always do, but because I felt so faint, I thought it might be a good idea to take a brief rest.
Very shortly after lying down, a melody started playing over and over in my thinking. At first I was simply enjoying the tune, but then I asked myself, “What song is this?” That is when the third verse of Hymn No. 183 from the “Christian Science Hymnal” came to thought:
Up, face the task and work;
Fling ease and self away;
This is no time for thee to sleep;
Up, watch, and work, and pray.
(Horatius Bonar, adapt. © CSBD)
I instantly got up, and the thought came to check my email, where I saw a message from my Christian Science students’ association calling for specific prayerful work with readings from the Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s writings. I spent the next few hours watching, working, and praying as I read through the readings assigned to us, which included this passage from Miscellaneous Writings: “Man is free born: he is neither the slave of sense, nor a silly ambler to the so-called pleasures and pains of self-conscious matter. Man is God’s image and likeness; whatever is possible to God, is possible to man as God’s reflection” (p. 183).
When I finished reading, my strength fully returned. All of the aggressive symptoms were completely gone and did not come back. I had been willing to fill my thought with spiritual truth rather than fear or discouragement and had yielded to the freedom at hand.
“Christian Science raises the standard of liberty and cries: ‘Follow me! Escape from the bondage of sickness, sin, and death!’ Jesus marked out the way. Citizens of the world, accept the ‘glorious liberty of the children of God,’ and be free! This is your divine right” (Science and Health, p. 227). As Americans celebrate their 250th birthday, I hope everyone, no matter where they are on the globe, can use this as an opportunity to begin celebrating their own God-given liberty from oppression of any kind.
Adapted from an article published in the June 29, 2026, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
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