Just because a certain disease is reported through the media doesn't mean that you and I have to get sick.
It's reassuring to know that we can remain healthy at a time when disease is being magnified and potentially multiplied by publicity. Many of the current reports about contagion are we'll intentioned and meant as a public service. There is, however, a side to all the media attention these days that thoughtful citizens should be aware of. Mary Baker Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures": "The press unwittingly sends forth many sorrows and diseases among the human family. It does this by giving names to diseases and by printing long descriptions which mirror images of disease distinctly in thought." (pp. 196-197)
Fortunately, no one has to live with the worry, "Will I be next to get sick?" There is a way not only to eliminate fear of these maladies but to prevent them from occurring. Christ Jesus admonished his disciples, "What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." (Mark 13:37)
Through the study and application of Christian Science, one may learn how to watch, how to defend himself from disease and suffering. The Christian Science textbook, referred to earlier, contains many things we can do mentally, prayerfully to safeguard our physical well-being. For example, it tells us: "Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously. When the condition is present, which you say induces disease, whether it be air, exercise, heredity, contagion, or accident, then perform your office as porter and shut out these unhealthy thoughts and fears. Exclude from mortal mind the offending errors; then the body cannot suffer from them." (Science and Health, p. 392)
When a person learns that thought affects every aspect of his life, he sees the necessity of replacing fearful, sickly thoughts, with truths that uplift his understanding to the recognition that he actually is spiritual--the way God created his child and has maintained him. He sees the importance of conforming to the Christly standard Jesus established for all mankind. No matter what others may be falsely believing about sickness and disease, we don't have to abjectly surrender our peace of mind and harmony but may instead exercise our God-given power over suffering.
When we understand that man, under God's government, reflects divine power and ability, we are better able to control our thoughts and so our daily lives. Each one of us is a free moral agent, possessing the God-bestowed capacity to choose the spiritually true and reject the false, choose divine ideas, and reject mortal suggestions. No one can do this for us, and no matter how blatant and pervasive media coverage may be, no one can prevent us from doing it. Each one of us is responsible for our own thoughts regarding the subject of health.
A well-known verse from Psalms declares, "Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." (Ps. 91:9, 10) The potent, spiritual truths of Christian Science make this Bible promise practical for us, provable right now.
