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Boob W ^3 7- 
 
 GopyrightN? . 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
THE 
 
 UNFOLDMENT 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM WTWALTER 
 
 Price $1.85 Postpaid 
 Published and for Sale by 
 
 WILLIAM W. WALTER 
 
 326 New York St. 
 AURORA, ILLINOIS 
 

 Copyright 1921 
 
 by 
 
 WILLIAM W. WALTER 
 
 Fl6 -4 i92i 
 
 ©CLA605673 
 
 *%*t4 
 

 PREFACE 
 
 In placing this book upon the market, I am 
 merely answering a persistent call from the field 
 relative to the light on the various subjects han- 
 dled. This call for light comes through letter 
 and also in person and the conversation in the 
 book is typical of hundreds that have taken place 
 in my office between patients, practitioners, teach- 
 ers, other truth seekers and myself. 
 
 The enlightenment and help that have come 
 to my visitors from these simple talks induced 
 me to place them in book form so that all who 
 desired enlightenment on these questions could 
 be benefited. 
 
 It will be apparent at once to the reader that 
 Walter Williams is merely a transposition of my 
 own name. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. The Appointment 7 
 
 II. Why and How 38 
 
 III. Emergence into the Light ... 74 
 
 IV. The Sickle 121 
 
 V. Class Teaching 157 
 
 VI. M.D. M.A.M. R.C 182 
 
THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE APPOINTMENT 
 
 Mr. Walter Williams, author, and teacher of 
 Christian Science, was sitting at the desk in his 
 private office, busily engaged in answering a mass 
 of correspondence that lay before him, when he 
 heard the door bell ring. He paused in his work 
 a moment, and upon hearing someone go to an- 
 swer the bell, he resumed his writing. 
 
 A moment later, he heard somebody enter the 
 reception room, and say: "I am Mrs. Viloxon 
 of Chicago. I had an appointment with Mr. 
 Williams for two o'clock." 
 
 "Yes, he is expecting you, and if you will ex- 
 cuse me I will notify him of your arrival. Please 
 be seated," was the answer. 
 
 A few minutes later, Mr. Williams opened the 
 door connecting his private office with the recep- 
 tion room, and stepping through the doorway, 
 
 7 
 
8 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 he saw a well dressed woman seated in an easy 
 rocker. As she turned toward him he observed 
 that her face was drawn, as though with worry 
 or pain. 
 
 The lady arose and asked: "Is this Mr. 
 Williams?" 
 
 A pleasant smile came to his face as he an- 
 swered: u Yes, I am Mr. Williams, and you are 
 Mrs. Viloxon?" 
 
 "Yes, I am Mrs. Clara Viloxon, Christian 
 Science practitioner of Chicago." As she said 
 this, there was just a trace of pride in her actions 
 and words. 
 
 Extending his hand in welcome, Mr. Williams 
 said: "I am pleased to meet you. Please step 
 into my private office so that we may talk, undis- 
 turbed. I suppose you came to keep your ap- 
 pointment." 
 
 "Yes," she replied. 
 
 Placing a rocker, Mr. Williams added: "Take 
 this seat, you will find it very comfortable." 
 
 The visitor took the chair indicated, and as 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 9 
 
 she seated herself, quietly said: "I thank you." 
 
 For several moments neither spoke, and it was 
 evident to Mrs. Viloxon that Mr. Williams was 
 closely studying her face, though not wishing to 
 appear to do so. 
 
 Scarcely knowing what to say, but with an evi- 
 dent desire to break the silence, Mrs. Viloxon 
 remarked: "Well, I am here." 
 
 "So I see," said Mr. Williams. 
 
 Leaning forward and looking up sharply, Mrs. 
 Viloxon remarked: "It took a mighty effort on 
 my part to come to your office in broad daylight, 
 for if some of my Science friends should see me, 
 it would cause me a great deal of trouble. That 
 is why I wrote you for an evening interview. I 
 consider my coming a wonderful demonstration." 
 
 "So you think your coming to my office a won- 
 derful demonstration?" 
 
 "Yes, I do, don't you?" 
 
 There was a serious expression on the face of 
 Mr. Williams, as he slowly shook his head and 
 quietly said : "No" ; then added : "However, let 
 
10 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 the matter rest there for the present. I am ready 
 to hear the nature of your mission." 
 
 There was a little show of both excitement and 
 resentment as Mrs. Viloxon said, quite positively: 
 "But I do consider my coming a big demonstra- 
 tion, and would like to know your reason for not 
 considering it such." 
 
 Mr. Williams faced his visitor squarely, and 
 said very calmly: "If we allow ourselves to get 
 excited and enter into controversy, our time will 
 be wasted, and no good will accrue to either of 
 us. Have you never heard it said, that we can- 
 not gain new ideas from those who fully agree 
 with us, because if we are in agreement no new 
 ideas are brought forth? Therefore, it is from 
 those who do not always agree with us, that we 
 must learn. It is also a fact that an excited or 
 angry man cannot reason clearly; therefore, if 
 we wish to gain knowledge, we must remain calm." 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon slowly sank back into her chair 
 as she attempted to take a mental invoice of the 
 calm, peaceful face before her. At length she 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 11 
 
 said: "You are right, Mr. Williams; still I have 
 always considered work of that kind as a demon- 
 stration, and so does every Scientist whom I know; 
 and I should be pleased to have you explain your 
 position. " 
 
 "Very well, I will explain. Your face tells 
 me that you did not come here solely for enlight- 
 enment, but rather because you are in some kind 
 of trouble and need help. Am I correct?" 
 
 "Yes, I came both for enlightenment and for 
 help. I want to know more of Science, and I 
 have a physical claim that has not yielded to my 
 very best efforts." 
 
 "Now please answer me plainly. If you had 
 found upon arising this morning, that you had 
 suddenly become well, would you have come to 
 keep this appointment?" 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon took a moment for thought, and 
 said: "I am inclined to think that if I had found 
 myself suddenly well, I would not have taken the 
 time to come." 
 
 "You have spoken truthfully. This proves 
 
12 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 that your coming here is not a demonstration." 
 "But Mr. Williams, I really did come, and can- 
 not see that it is not a demonstration." 
 
 "You wrote me for an evening appointment, 
 and this showed me that you were afraid to come. 
 When I wrote you that apparently you were afraid 
 to come to my office in daylight, it hurt your 
 pride, and you decided not to come at all; but 
 your claim or trouble — whatever it may be — 
 would not yield, and gradually you feared the 
 consequences of this ill more than you feared to 
 come, and again you wrote for an appointment; 
 so you are here not as a demonstration of right 
 thinking, but because your fear of becoming seri- 
 ously sick was greater than your fear of coming 
 in daylight and being seen by other church Scien- 
 tists. Your face tells me that you are honest 
 at heart, therefore be honest with yourself. Be 
 natural, be honest; that is, let the natural hon- 
 esty of your heart hold sway, and put away the 
 make-believe and hypocrisy which you have worn 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 13 
 
 as a mask. You cannot be well, happy and har- 
 monious while hypocrisy holds sway." 
 
 Slowly but surely what had been said entered 
 the consciousness of Mrs. Viloxon, and at length 
 she said: "You are right. It was not a demon- 
 stration. I came because I feared my trouble 
 more than I feared the coming, but I am no hypo- 
 crite because I truly believed my coming was a 
 demonstration." 
 
 "Did you ever look up Webster's definition of 
 the word 'hypocrite' ?" 
 
 "No, I don't think I have looked up the mean- 
 ing in recent years, because I know what the word 
 means." 
 
 "Let me cite you Webster's definition. It is: 
 4 One who feigns to be what he is not; one — ' " 
 
 "Yes, I know the meaning," broke in Mrs. 
 Viloxon; then added: "But I am not a hypo- 
 crite." 
 
 "Please let me finish the definition, — 'One who 
 has the form of godliness without the power, or 
 who assumes the appearance of piety and virtue, 
 
14 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 when he is destitute of true religion.' Do any 
 of these fit your case?" 
 
 "No, for I am no hypocrite." 
 
 "Very well. Will you now tell me why you 
 asked for an appointment?" asked Mr. Williams. 
 
 "Yes, and that you may understand my prob- 
 lem correctly I feel that I should like to tell you 
 some things, may I?" 
 
 "Yes, tell the whole story plainly, if you wish." 
 
 "Thank you. I was married at an early age, 
 and shortly after our marriage, my husband took 
 a very dangerous position, and I was in constant 
 dread that some day he would be brought home 
 to me, dead. This condition continued until I 
 became a nervous wreck, and one day the ex- 
 pected happened. The shock was so great that 
 all despaired of my ever getting well again; but 
 after some months, a friend mentioned Christian 
 Science, and I determined to try it; and through 
 months of treatment, I was fully restored. Next, 
 I took class instruction and devoted myself to the 
 healing field. For three or four years I was very 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 15 
 
 successful, but gradually, as time went on, I awoke 
 to the fact that my cases were not responding as 
 in the early years; and now, after being in the 
 practice for twenty-seven years, I am not at all 
 satisfied with my ability to heal. To make mat- 
 ters worse, my old nervousness and worry have 
 come back, and are leaving their marks upon my 
 face and body so plainly that I cannot longer 
 hide them from my patients; for a few weeks ago, 
 one of them remarked about my appearance. If 
 this continues I shall lose all my practice. " 
 
 As Mrs. Viloxon paused in her recital, Mr. 
 Williams thought, u the same old story I" Ad- 
 dressing her, he asked: "What led you to come 
 to me?" 
 
 "I will tell you," and then looking away she 
 said: "Of course, Mr. Williams, you are aware 
 that we Chicago practitioners do not consider 
 you a loyal Scientist. I have been to my teacher, 
 and other practitioners for help, but received none, 
 in this particular problem. A friend whom you 
 
16 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 healed some years ago, told me she was positive 
 that you could heal me, so I came." 
 
 Mr. Williams asked: "Have you ever read 
 any of my writings on Christian Science?" 
 
 "You know, Mr. Williams, as loyal church 
 Scientists we are forbidden to read your books; 
 but when I could not seem to get the understand- 
 ing necessary to heal myself, from Mrs. Eddy's 
 works and the periodicals, I decided to secretly 
 read some of your writings; not with the inten- 
 tion of being disloyal to the church, understand, 
 but to find healing for myself." 
 
 Mr. Williams bowed his head as he slowly 
 said: "Yes, I understand fully." 
 
 "I appealed to this friend, and she gave me 
 two of your 'Plain Talk Series' to read. While 
 I do not fully agree with all that you have writ- 
 ten there, yet I seemed to get the idea that you 
 had a deep understanding of Christian Science, 
 and might be able to help me." 
 
 Assuming a serious look, Mr. Williams asked: 
 "If I were to heal you, would you go back to your 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 17 
 
 friends and patients, and tell them that you were 
 healed through the Williams' method of apply- 
 ing Christian Science?" 
 
 A look of great fear overspread the face of 
 Mrs. Viloxon as she leaned back in her chair and 
 trembled visibly, as she said : "Oh, Mr. Williams ! 
 I could not do that." 
 
 "Not even if your health and happiness de- 
 pended upon it?" he asked. 
 
 "I am afraid not," came the answer in a very 
 weak voice. 
 
 Looking squarely at Mrs. Viloxon, Mr. Wil- 
 liams said with deep sympathy, "I am really sorry 
 for you, and for the thousands of other practi- 
 tioners in Science. Why, you all fear your church 
 organization, and your brother and sister prac- 
 titioners more than you did the devil of your 
 old religion. I would not have that fear yoke 
 on my neck for all the money in the world." 
 
 "But Mr. Williams, how would I get along? 
 How would I make my living, if my patients all 
 left me?" 
 
18 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "There now, that is the honesty in your heart 
 coming to the top again. You are not loyal to 
 the church because you feel it right, but because 
 you will perhaps lose your livelihood if you are 
 considered disloyal." 
 
 "Oh, I don't know what to say to you! But 
 of one thing I am certain, — I cannot go on day 
 after day with this fear and worry and nervous- 
 ness making me too wretched to live, — yet I see 
 no way out of it." 
 
 "Mrs. Viloxon, did it ever occur to you that 
 perhaps a practitioner who was considered dis- 
 loyal could make a good living in the practice?" 
 
 "No, it never has." 
 
 "Do I look poor and in want; sickly, worried 
 and fearful?" 
 
 "No, you look just the reverse." 
 
 "Yet I am in the practice; and you yourself 
 said that I was considered a disloyal Scientist, — 
 whatever that may mean to those who use the 
 term." 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 19 
 
 "But loyal Christian Scientists will not come 
 to me after I am called disloyal." 
 
 "They will not? Let us see. You are a so- 
 called loyal Christian Scientist, yet you came to 
 me, a so-called disloyal Scientist.'' 
 
 The smile she saw on Mr. Williams' face was 
 so reassuring and kindly, that she could not help 
 smiling herself, as she said: "But I am only 
 one." 
 
 "Yes you are only one, but one of a thousand," 
 said Mr. Williams with a quiet laugh. 
 
 "Do you mean that there are many practi- 
 tioners and patients who are church members who 
 come to you?" 
 
 "Yes, very many. In fact, nearly all who 
 come to me are or were so-called loyal church 
 members." 
 
 "From Chicago, too?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Yes, from all over the United States, and 
 also some from foreign countries." 
 
 "I am surprised." 
 
 "I am not. You know the old saw, that you 
 
20 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 cannot fool all the people all the time. When 
 they have tried all that the church has to offer 
 and are not relieved, they wisely look further. 
 Also, someone has truly said that if you have 
 something that the world wants, the people will 
 wear a beaten path to your door, even though 
 you are located in a wilderness." 
 
 "And I thought I was the only one," said Mrs. 
 Viloxon with a queer little smile. 
 
 "Come, we are wasting time; you must decide. 
 Do you want to remain a so-called loyal Chris- 
 tian Science church Scientist, and live in dread 
 and fear of the organization all your life? Or 
 do you want to become free, a real Christ 
 Scientist, and stand upon your own understand- 
 ing of the Facts of Life?" 
 
 "Oh, I want to be well and happy again, but 
 why can't you heal me and let me remain with 
 the church, as formerly?" 
 
 "I never asked any one to leave any church, 
 and shall not ask you to do so. In fact, I would 
 prefer that you do not leave the church at once, 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 21 
 
 but stay with it until the church idea leaves you, 
 which it ought to do, but never will, as long as 
 you are content to retain the position of servant 
 instead of striving daily to rise to the position of 
 master. To gain your healing and rise to higher 
 consciousness you must be honest with yourself, 
 else you cannot succeed." 
 
 "I do not understand you, Mr. Williams." 
 
 "I will explain. Mrs. Eddy says that the key- 
 note of Christian Science is 'Be not afraid,' and 
 the Bible teaches that Tear hath torment.' You 
 have come to me with a so-called nervous trouble 
 which seemingly is destroying your health and 
 harmony. I have diagnosed this trouble meta- 
 physically, and find that the mental error respon- 
 sible, and which needs to be destroyed, is dread, 
 fear and hypocrisy." 
 
 "Dread and fear perhaps, hypocrisy, never! 
 How can you say that?" and there was a flash of 
 indignation in her tone. 
 
 Mr. Williams, in his calm, smooth voice, said: 
 "Is it not hypocritical to pretend that you are a 
 
22 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 great healer, when you know that your ability to 
 heal has vanished? Is it not hypocritical to stand 
 before your patients as a well woman, when you 
 know that you are on the verge of nervous col- 
 lapse? Is it not hypocritical to pretend to be a 
 loyal church member, and then seek for healing 
 outside of the church? Is it not hypocritical to 
 forbid your patients to read any other litera- 
 ture than Mrs. Eddy's works and the church peri- 
 odicals, and you yourself spend hours in the read- 
 ing and study of so-called unauthorized litera- 
 ture? Is it not hypocritical — " 
 
 "Please don't, Mr. Williams," exclaimed Mrs. 
 Viloxon, as she put her hand to her face in shame. 
 
 "Very well. But let us understand each other, 
 and above all, let us be honest and natural. You 
 are honest at heart and I honestly want to help 
 you. It cannot be done while one or the other 
 is pretending. You investigated long and care- 
 fully before you came to me. You found that I 
 was more successful than the others. You became 
 convinced that I had an understanding of the 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 23 
 
 Truth of Life beyond those of the church whom 
 you had employed, including your teacher. Yet 
 you did not wish to give me credit, or let me know 
 that you had been investigating. Am I not right ?" 
 
 "Yes, but please remember, I did it merely to 
 regain my health." 
 
 "Yes, I know. If things had continued smoothly 
 with you, you would never have stopped your, 
 shall I say, hypocritical life. This points to the 
 truth of the statement that 'man's extremity is 
 God's opportunity.' The law of Life is such 
 that all will sooner or later find it necessary to be 
 absolutely honest with self and their fellow man, 
 if they wish to be well and happy." 
 
 "I must regain my health; I cannot live this 
 way longer. If I resign from the church, and 
 study your works alone, will you give me treat- 
 ment and heal me?" 
 
 "No ! I will not give you treatment in the 
 sense that you have of giving treatment. I have 
 not taken on any cases for mere treatment, for 
 the past three years. Neither would it be neces- 
 
24 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 sary for you to leave your church or confine your- 
 self to the study of my writings." 
 
 "I do not understand, Mr. Williams." 
 
 "No, none of the older church Scientists un- 
 derstand me. If they did, they would never 
 again say a word against the work that I am 
 striving to accomplish. I am not trying to tear 
 down the Christian Science church, neither am I 
 trying to start a movement of my own; but I am 
 striving to unveil the veiled Truth and make it 
 so plain that everybody, both in and out of the 
 Christian Science church, can understand and ap- 
 ply it to the overcoming of their troubles, be they 
 sin, sickness or poverty." 
 
 "Then I would not need to leave the church to 
 be healed under your method of applying Chris- 
 tian Science?" 
 
 "No, and neither would the member of any 
 other church need to leave their church to be 
 healed. I was healed while still affiliated with 
 another church. I have healed Catholic and 
 Protestant, Chinaman and American, and never 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 25 
 
 in all the years of my healing work have I asked 
 any one to leave their church." 
 
 "But did they all continue in their old 
 churches ?" 
 
 "No, very few continued in their old religious 
 beliefs for any length of time, after being healed; 
 especially those who came to me for present treat- 
 ment, for then I was able to make the facts of 
 Life so plain, that they saw the ridiculousness of 
 their former church beliefs, and deserted them." 
 
 "Then you are not opposed to the people be- 
 longing to churches?" 
 
 "No, I am not opposed to those going to 
 church who feel they need the church; but I am 
 opposed to the idea advanced by some churches, 
 that you can get into heaven only through some 
 certain church." 
 
 "Mr. Williams, I fear I have been narrow in 
 regard to my church thought, but I am not en- 
 tirely to blame, for I was in a great measure fol- 
 lowing the lead of my teacher. Now I want to 
 be honest with myself, and get well, and I would 
 
26 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 thank you if you would point the way for me. I 
 don't wish to be a hypocrite, and not until you 
 laid the proof plainly before me, could I even sur- 
 mise that I was hypocritical; and even yet, I do 
 not see how my action regarding the church has 
 any thing to do with my illness." 
 
 "I will show you. You stated that after your 
 marriage and after your husband had taken up 
 a hazardous occupation, you were much dis- 
 turbed, and were in constant dread and fear that 
 something terrible would happen to him. Per- 
 haps you do not know that when Job said : 'The 
 thing I feared most has come upon me,' he was 
 stating a mental law." 
 
 u Why no, I never thought of this statement as 
 a law," said Mrs. Viloxon, with some surprise. 
 
 "It is a mental Law. You will remember that 
 Mrs. Eddy quotes Shakespeare's statement, 
 'There is nothing either good or bad but thinking 
 makes it so.' On page 415 of 'Science and 
 Health,' we read: 'Note how thought makes 
 the face pallid. It either retards the circulation 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 27 
 
 or quickens it, causing a pale or flushed cheek. 
 In the same way thought increases or diminishes 
 the secretions, the action of the lungs, of the 
 bowels, and of the heart.' This shows that Mrs. 
 Eddy taught that thought is causative. Right 
 thought produces right results, such as health 
 and success, while sick thought produces sickness. 
 This being the case, it can readily be seen why 
 the thing you fear most must come upon you, 
 because whatever you fear most you think most 
 of, and thus you actually create such a condition." 
 
 u Mr. Williams, you astonish me. If that be 
 true, I was in a great measure to blame for the 
 ill that befell my husband." 
 
 "I am not saying anything about that. I only 
 wish to point out to you the great part which 
 fear thought plays in bringing evil upon us. 
 Your dread, fear and worry kept your mentality 
 constantly discordant. This inharmony of the 
 mentality, in your case, was shown in the body 
 as the trouble that we call nervousness. Later, 
 after the accident happened, and you had some- 
 
28 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 what recovered from the shock, the cause of the 
 mental discord (the fear of accident to your hus- 
 band) being removed, your mentality took on a 
 quieter mood and you recovered or became nor- 
 mal again." 
 
 "Oh, but I was healed through the treatment 
 given me by a Christian Science practitioner." 
 
 "No doubt the harmonious thought of the 
 practitioner helped you to arrive at normality; 
 but had you attempted to become healed while 
 constantly fearing for the safety of your husband, 
 this very same practitioner could not have helped 
 you permanently, unless in some way he could 
 have allayed your fear concerning your husband, 
 for this was the erring 'thought cause." 
 
 "I never looked at it in that light before. But 
 why has this condition returned, for the circum- 
 stance which you say was the cause in the first 
 place, is not in evidence now?" asked Mrs. 
 Viloxon. 
 
 "No, not the very same thought condition, but 
 one just like it." 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 29 
 
 "I don't understand/' replied Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Your former nervous illness was caused by 
 a state of constant dread and fear — the fear that 
 something would happen to your husband. In 
 the present instance, you have a dread and fear 
 that something is going to happen to you. You 
 are in almost constant fear that some one con- 
 nected with the church organization, or your 
 teacher, or some one else, will bring forth the 
 charge that you are disloyal and thus result in 
 your dismissal; and that, because of this, you 
 may lose your practice, and your livelihood." 
 
 "I believe I see a little light," said Mrs. 
 Viloxon, slowly. 
 
 "Your fear of being called disloyal or of be- 
 ing excommunicated from the church amounts 
 almost to a mental panic, as it does with most of 
 the church members, and especially the listed 
 practitioners. Mrs. Eddy said that the keynote 
 of Christian Science is 'Be not afraid'; but the 
 cold justice or, as some state, injustice, that has 
 been meted out by the church authorities, con- 
 
30 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 stitutes the greatest creator of fear that any or- 
 ganization ever conjured forth with which to 
 govern its membership. I know from experi- 
 ence, and I would not again be under that church 
 yoke of fear for all the world. Your present 
 illness is nothing but the external expression of 
 your fear of the organization, and that is why 
 your various practitioners could not heal you, for 
 they kept manufacturing beliefs which gave you 
 more fear of the organization. Surely, 'Fear 
 hath torment'." 
 
 For a full minute there was silence in the office, 
 as Mrs. Viloxon mentally digested what had 
 been said. Then she looked up and said, quite 
 positively: "I believe you are right." 
 
 "Oh, I know I am right," said Mr. Williams. 
 "You are not the first one whom I have healed 
 of serious illness, merely by destroying for them 
 the fear of the organization. 
 
 "The nature of fear is such that it makes no 
 difference what the procuring cause is, be it fear 
 of church or even fear of God; the fear disturbs 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 31 
 
 the normal harmonious status of the mentality, 
 and disturbed mental harmony, sooner or later, 
 has its effect or manifestation on the body as 
 sickness; and the ill, will continue as a so-called 
 physical ailment until the fear has been de- 
 stroyed.' ' 
 
 u Yes, I know that Mrs. Eddy says that 'Be not 
 afraid' is the keynote of Christian Science; but 
 it never occurred to my thought that fear of be- 
 ing disciplined or excommunicated could be classed 
 as that kind of fear, but I am inclined to believe 
 that you are right because every time I heard of 
 some one being disciplined or excommunicated, 
 it made me more fearful and nervous." 
 
 "There is no question about it. On page 421, 
 latest edition of 'Science and Health,' line 5, you 
 find these words of Mrs. Eddy: 'Derangement, 
 or disarrangement, is a word which conveys the 
 true definition of all human belief in ill-health, 
 or disturbed harmony.' Now it matters not, 
 whether the disturbed harmony is caused by your 
 fear of being excommunicated, or of losing your 
 
32 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 husband, the fear causes the disturbed harmony 
 just the same and the result is, ill-health. Now 
 answer me honestly, ever since you had your name 
 listed as a practitioner, there is scarcely anything 
 that you fear more than being excommunicated 
 or being called disloyal, is there ?" 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon took time for careful thought, 
 then answered: "For years I have had a latent 
 fear of those in authority and since the excom- 
 munication of so many prominent Christian Scien- 
 tists, I have had a constant and growing fear of 
 being disciplined either by the Mother church or 
 the local church of which I am a member, and 
 an actual dread that I might unconsciously dis- 
 obey some of the by-laws in the Manual, and that 
 some one not friendly to me might charge me with 
 disloyalty and thus ruin my practice." 
 
 "Oh, that Manual!" said Mr. Williams, with 
 a look of deep disgust, then continued: "You 
 know, that Manual reminds me of a mental cat- 
 o-nine tails, to whip the more fearless thinkers 
 into servitude; the same as the slave drivers of 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 33 
 
 olden times used to beat their slaves into deeper 
 subjection through repeated use of the cat-o-nine 
 tails.'' 
 
 "A mental cat-o-nine tails ! I don't think I 
 ever heard that expression before." 
 
 "Perhaps not, but that Manual was an instru- 
 ment of torture (mental torture) to me the first 
 few years that I was a member of the organiza- 
 tion. I was in constant mental dread and fear 
 that I would be disciplined and called disloyal, 
 and that because of this, the little money I had, 
 which was all invested in my books, would be 
 lost; and also that I would lose my practice upon 
 which I was depending for a livelihood. It cer- 
 tainly was an instrument of mental torture to me." 
 
 "I don't know that I ever analyzed my thought 
 as carefully as that, but I do have the fear that 
 I might unintentionally transgress some of the 
 by-laws, and be called disloyal." 
 
 "Well, I am satisfied that that very fear, or 
 disturbed harmony, is the cause of much of the 
 illness that many practitioners have; and it is an 
 
34 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 experience which I do not care to go through 
 again, " said Mr. Williams. 
 
 "But you would not do away with the Manual 
 entirely, would you? How could you govern a 
 church without some set rules?" 
 
 "No, I would leave the church goer his Man- 
 ual, but as far as I am concerned I want neither 
 church nor Manual. Jesus never started a church, 
 at least Mrs. Eddy wrote in her first edition of 
 'Science and Health,' page 118, line 25: 'Jesus 
 paid no homage to diplomas, to forms of church 
 worship or the theories of man, but acted and 
 spake as he was moved by Spirit, the principle 
 of being'; and on page 166 of this same edition 
 Mrs. Eddy wrote : 'We have no needs of creeds 
 and church organization to sustain or explain a 
 demonstrable platform, that defines itself in heal- 
 ing the sick, and casting out error.' On the same 
 page we find this by Mrs. Eddy: 'The mistake 
 the disciples of Jesus made to found religious 
 organizations and church rites, if indeed they did 
 this, was one the Master did not make.' " 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 35 
 
 "But Mr. Williams, we have no creeds or rites 
 in the Christian Science church." 
 
 u That is what you believe, and many others 
 have said, but is it a fact? Let us see! Webster 
 defines the word 'Creed' to mean, 'A brief sum- 
 mary of the articles of faith.' On page 330 of 
 the latest edition of 'Science and Health' you 
 find the beginning of thirty-two articles, and Mrs. 
 Eddy intimates that they are the platform of 
 Christian Science. Now I cannot see that chang- 
 ing the name from 'creed' to 'platform' makes 
 any difference in the matter at all. The creeds of 
 other denominations are really their platforms, 
 and the platform of Christian Science is really its 
 creed." 
 
 "Mr. Williams, you certainly present the mat- 
 ter so that none can mistake your meaning." 
 
 "Yes. I am tired of all this word quibble, this 
 subterfuge, this masquerading. Let us be hon- 
 est and natural." 
 
 "At any rate we have no church rites, have we, 
 Mr. Williams?" 
 
36 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 The smile which arose to the face of the man 
 could not be entirely hidden, as he said: "Let 
 us examine into the matter. Webster defines the 
 word 'Rite' to mean, 'The manner of performing 
 divine or solemn service, as established by law, 
 precept, or custom.' Are not the Sunday and 
 Wednesday services in the Christian Science 
 church established by law — by the by-laws — by 
 precept, and by custom? Don't all the churches 
 have exactly the same services, conducted in the 
 very same way? This agrees with Webster's def- 
 inition of the word 'rites,' even if denied by 
 thousands." 
 
 "You are certainly giving me shock upon shock. 
 But not until you explained, did I view the matter 
 in this light," replied Mrs. Viloxon, as she moved 
 uneasily in her seat. 
 
 "The laws governing the services of the one 
 church are the rites of the other. Now why hide 
 these matters under new names as though they 
 were something different from the other 
 churches?" 
 
THE APPOINTMENT 37 
 
 u Why, it is plain to me now, — there is only 
 a change of name, and not of system or custom." 
 
 "I can see but little difference. The custom in 
 some churches is to preach the Gospel and in the 
 Science church they read it. Now let us speak 
 of the Manual that so many Scientists revere. 
 The Christian Science Manual is a book which 
 contains the by-laws etc., to be observed by the 
 members. I have heard Scientists denounce what 
 they were pleased to call the 'ritualism' of some 
 other churches. Let us see if the Science church 
 is entirely free from ritualism. Webster defines 
 the word 'Ritual' to mean: 'A book containing 
 the rites to be observed; or the manner of per- 
 forming divine service in a particular church or 
 communion.' If the Christian Science Manual 
 contains any thing which corresponds to Web- 
 ster's definition, then I fear the Manual is nothing 
 but a ritual with a change of name, merely." 
 
 "I must have time to think this over. You are 
 presenting these matters faster than I can assim- 
 ilate them," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 WHY AND HOW 
 
 "Let us now drop church matters, and get to 
 the point for which you came," said Mr. Williams. 
 
 "Your talk on church matters interests me 
 greatly, and has opened my eyes to many things 
 and I thank you ; but as your time is precious, I 
 will not take any more of it to explain things which 
 I ought to have discovered for myself. My main 
 mission is to regain my health." 
 
 With a quizzical smile, Mr. Williams asked: 
 "What became of it? Did you lose it or did some 
 one steal it?" 
 
 "Oh! I don't know how to answer. I don't 
 even know whether you are in earnest or joking, 
 but I do know that I am miserable most of the 
 time." 
 
 A soft, sympathetic glow came into the eyes of 
 Mr. Williams, as he said: "Well, I know all 
 abtmt it, and also know how you lost it, and how 
 
 38 
 
WHY AND HOW 39 
 
 you can regain it, so let us not worry about that." 
 
 "Then you have decided to give me treatment ?" 
 Mrs. Viloxon asked quickly. 
 
 "Your greatest need is not treatment, but teach- 
 ing. If I should consent to give you treatment 
 it would very likely need to be absent treatment; 
 and if you were relieved of your present trouble, 
 this would not result in permanent health." 
 
 "Why do you say that? I thought that Chris- 
 tian Science healing was the one permanent cure," 
 said the visitor. 
 
 "Have you found in actual practice that all the 
 cases which you treated and which were appar- 
 ently healed, stayed permanently well with no 
 return of the same thing or some other?" 
 
 "Why no, of course not. I have treated and 
 apparently healed some claims a number of times, 
 but at a later date, the patient would again be 
 afflicted with the same trouble, or some other. I 
 have also found similar conditions in the heal- 
 ings I have accomplished for myself from time 
 to time." 
 
40 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "Mrs. Viloxon, if your statement is correct 
 that Christian Science healing is the one perma- 
 nent cure, then, if any of the ills that you have 
 apparently healed reappeared, the healings you 
 accomplished were not really Christian Science 
 healings, according to your own words, else they 
 would have remained permanent/' 
 
 u But they claimed the healings that I accom- 
 plished were Christian Science healings." 
 
 "Yes, and you in turn believed that the heal- 
 ings that you accomplished were the result of 
 actual Christian Science practice, but were they?" 
 
 "I will admit that I do not know. Still, I know 
 of many claims that were met by my work and 
 which did not return." 
 
 "Yes, that no doubt is true. You just said, 
 'Were met by my work.' I thought that you Scien- 
 tists say that 'God is the only healer,' also many 
 practitioners say, 'I of mine own self can do noth- 
 ing, God doeth the work.' Just how do you ex- 
 plain this matter?" 
 
 "But, Mr. Williams, don't you believe that 
 
WHY AND HOW 41 
 
 God, Spirit, Divine Love is the only healer?" 
 
 "I don't only believe it, I understand it, and 
 also how God does the healing. I was merely 
 asking you how you can harmonize these two 
 statements, " he replied. 
 
 "Have you never heard the statement that I do 
 my work and God does the rest?" asked Mrs. 
 Viloxon. 
 
 "Oh yes, and I am now trying to find out just 
 what you practitioners mean by that statement. 
 Can you explain?" 
 
 "Well, I suppose it means that the practitioner 
 does the treating and God does the healing," re- 
 plied the lady. 
 
 "Then you are of the opinion that God would 
 not or could not heal, if the practitioner did not 
 treat." 
 
 "No ! God is all-powerful, and can surely 
 heal without the aid of the practitioner," said 
 Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "If the practitioner is not needed in the heal- 
 ing and can do nothing of himself, as you claim, 
 
42 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 and if God does the work, then why does the 
 patient employ and pay the practitioner?" asked 
 Mr. Williams. 
 
 A surprised look overspread the face of Mrs. 
 Viloxon, as she said: "I don't know that I ever 
 took time to think about the matter. But I know 
 that according to the Christian Science method of 
 healing, the practitioner does the treating and 
 God does the healing." 
 
 "If God can heal without the aid of the prac- 
 titioner, then why this partnership between God 
 and the practitioner, to produce healing in Chris- 
 tian Science?" asked Mr. Williams. 
 
 "It is not absolutely necessary that the patient 
 go to a practitioner to gain healing, he can him- 
 self go direct to God." 
 
 "Then why did you not go direct to God ior 
 your healing, Mrs. Viloxon?" 
 
 "Oh I did, I did! But for some reason un- 
 known to me, there has been no answer to my 
 self treatments." 
 
 "Then you came to me, thinking that perhaps 
 
WHY AND HOW 43 
 
 I was on better terms with God, and that there- 
 fore he might answer my treatments offered in 
 your behalf? Would this not be folly when we 
 stop to think that the Bible and also Mrs. Eddy 
 teach that our God is a changeless God, and no 
 respecter of persons ?" 
 
 "I don't know how to answer you. There is 
 something here I never did understand/' said 
 Mrs. Viloxon, much disturbed. 
 
 "How long did you say you had been in the 
 healing practice, Mrs. Viloxon?" 
 
 u Twenty-seven years," she replied. 
 
 "And during all that time you posed as an 
 authorized healer and did not understand the 
 simplest fundamental of healing? Do you think 
 this was strictly honest?" 
 
 "But I did many good healing works during 
 that time," broke in Mrs. Viloxon, with some 
 show of color. 
 
 "You just got through saying that God is the 
 only healer, and now yon say you did many goad 
 
44 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 healing works. Won't you please explain this 
 seeming contradiction?" 
 
 For several minutes there was silence in the 
 office, as Mrs. Viloxon was moved by several con- 
 trary emotions. She partially arose out of her 
 chair as though ready to depart, then sank back 
 dejectedly. Next she looked sharply at Mr. 
 Williams as though ready to retort angrily, but 
 again sank back into her chair with a hopeless, 
 pleading look on her face, and said: "Mr. Wil- 
 liams, please have pity on me and show me the 
 light." 
 
 The satisfied smile which came to the face of 
 Mr. Williams showed plainly that he had attained 
 the point he wished to 'reach, and his words cor- 
 roborated his looks, for he said: "There; now 
 we are in the right mental attitude for advance- 
 ment. As long as an individual is trying to up- 
 hold a position that has no foundation just be- 
 cause of pride, or because he thinks it policy, he 
 is not in the right mental attitude to receive men- 
 tal enlightenment. We must become as little 
 
WHY AND HOW 45 
 
 children, teachable, and receptive to the actual 
 Truth. I could not hope to help" you while you 
 took the position that you knew these things, 
 when in reality you did not." 
 
 "But 1 do know something of Christian Science 
 healing." 
 
 "Perhaps, but not as you should know. All 
 these years you have been working with blind 
 faith and not understanding; and all the healing 
 that you accomplished was the result of your own, 
 or the patient's, blind faith in an unknown God, 
 or in the method employed." 
 
 "I cannot believe this to be true, in fact, I 
 know it is not." 
 
 "We will not discuss that point now. Later, 
 you will agree with me. Now I shall try to put 
 you on the right track." 
 
 Mr. Williams reached over to his desk and 
 picking up a book, he said: "This is 'Miscella- 
 neous Writings' by Mrs. Eddy." And he held 
 it up so that his visitor could see the book. 
 
 "Yes, I recognize it," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
46 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "Before we begin, I should like to ask if you 
 are one of those who think that Mental Science 
 and Christian Science are the same?" asked Mr. 
 Williams. 
 
 "No, indeed. Christian Science is spiritual 
 science, in other words, the Science of Spirit, God. 
 Whereas, I understand that Mental Science is of 
 human origin, or of the human mind." 
 
 "Yes, I have heard several practitioners, and 
 a few teachers say words of the same import," 
 said Mr. Williams. 
 
 There was quite a satisfied look on Mrs. 
 Viloxon's face as she thought, "at least I was 
 right in this particular." Mr. Williams saw the 
 look, and slowly opening the book he had in his 
 hand, he said: "Here, on page 219 of 'Miscel- 
 laneous Writings' is an article by Mrs. Eddy 
 entitled 'Mental Practice,' and the article deals 
 with healing the sick. Now I wonder why Mrs. 
 Eddy did not say spiritual practice instead of 
 'Mental Practice' if Mental Science is of the hu- 
 man mind?" Not receiving any answer, Mr. 
 
WHY AND HOW 47 
 
 Williams continued: "In the article Mrs. Eddy 
 says: 'It is admitted that mortals think wick- 
 edly, and act wickedly: it is beginning to be seen 
 by thinkers, that mortals think also after a sickly 
 fashion. In common parlance, one person feels 
 sick, another feels wicked.' Now what do you 
 understand from that statement ?" 
 
 "Why, it's very plain to me. Mrs. Eddy 
 wished to point out that wicked thinking makes 
 us act wicked, and sick thinking or thinking sick- 
 ness makes us sick. I have known this these many 
 years. Is not that your understanding, also?" 
 asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Yes. Then according to your understanding 
 you are sick because you have been thinking sick 
 thoughts." 
 
 "Yes. Something of that sort, though my 
 trouble seems to be somewhat different." 
 
 "That is what they all say," said Mr. Wil- 
 liams, with a broad grin. "However, that is not 
 the point. The point is, that if your own wicked 
 thinking makes you wicked and your own sick 
 
48 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 thinking makes you sick, then why will not your 
 own right thinking or healthy thinking make you 
 healthy, without the aid of any outside, far-away 
 God?" 
 
 "Simply because Mrs. Eddy says that the hu- 
 man mind is not a factor in healing, and also 
 that God is the only healer," said Mrs. Viloxon, 
 most decidedly. 
 
 "And you call this a full and sufficient reason?" 
 
 "Yes. At least it satisfies me." 
 
 "I am inclined to think that you are easily sat- 
 isfied in these matters. Carrying your statement 
 farther, why do you try to heal yourself if God 
 is the only healer and your so-called human mind 
 is not a factor in the healing?" 
 
 "I do not try to heal myself with my mind. 
 You know that Mrs. Eddy teaches that 'desire is 
 prayer,' and I, in silent thought, earnestly desire 
 that God heal me." 
 
 "Is this desiring done without the aid of the 
 so-called human mind? If not, then this so-called 
 human mind must be a factor." 
 
WHY AND HOW 49 
 
 There was a surprised look on the face of 
 the lady as she said: "I had not thought of that, 
 but I know that Mrs. Eddy teaches that desire is 
 prayer." 
 
 "In other words, your treatments consist of 
 desire or prayer and this is your part of the 
 work, and then God does the healing and that 
 is His part of the work." 
 
 There w T as a real smile on Mrs. Viloxon's face 
 as she quickly said: "Yes, that is just what I 
 mean. You said it beautifully, and as some others 
 have expressed it, I do my w^ork and God does 
 the rest." 
 
 "Mrs. Viloxon, have you never read where 
 Mrs. Eddy wrote : 'Who would stand before a 
 blackboard, and pray the principle of mathe- 
 matics to solve the problem? The rule is already 
 established, and it is our task to work out the 
 solution. Shall we ask the divine principle of all 
 goodness to do His own work? His work is 
 done.' Then how can you say, you do your work 
 
50 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 and God does His, or that you do your work and 
 God does the rest?" 
 
 "Oh, there is some misunderstanding here. 
 Where does Mrs. Eddy say that 'God's work is 
 done'?" 
 
 Picking up a book, Mr. Williams turned a few 
 leaves and said, "Here it is, on page 3, 'Science 
 and Health,' lines 4 to 9," and handing the book 
 to Mrs. Viloxon he added: "Read it for your- 
 self." 
 
 Taking the book, the visitor read the para- 
 graph a number of times, then looking up she 
 said: "Yes, Mrs. Eddy does say 'His work is 
 done.' I remember now of reading the state- 
 ment many times. Strange that I never saw it 
 in this new light before. Then what do all these 
 Scientists, and my teacher mean when they say, 
 'I do my work, and God does the rest'?" 
 
 "I suppose they mean the same as you, when 
 you say it." 
 
 "But what do I mean when I say it?" 
 
 "Simply nothing," was the quiet reply. 
 
WHY AND HOW 51 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon sat back in her chair with a jerk 
 and remained silent for several moments, then 
 said, very quietly: "Why do you perplex and 
 torture me in this way?" 
 
 "Because you are feigning to be something 
 which you are not, namely, an understander of 
 the Christ Science, and because you will not re- 
 cede from your false position. " 
 
 "But I am a class student, in fact, I went 
 through two classes years ago with different 
 teachers, and once again in later years. " 
 
 "Mrs. Viloxon, that does not mean anything. 
 If your teachers did not know the Science of Be- 
 ing, they could not teach it to you. It is not the 
 going through a half dozen classes with teachers 
 who know not actual Truth, that makes you ca- 
 pable to apply the Christ Science ; but rather, your 
 understanding of Life, God, and the correct ap- 
 plication of this living Principle to the problems 
 of humanity." 
 
 "But I thought I did understand the Science 
 of Life," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
52 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "And now you are finding out that you had no 
 actual understanding of Life, God, at all." 
 
 "Do you feel that it is as bad as that?" 
 
 "Perhaps not, but it's bad enough. At least, 
 I should hardly care to trust my earthly exist- 
 ence into your hands, if I were very sick." 
 
 "But Mr. Williams, the practitioner's position 
 is not that important, for you do not consign your 
 case into the practitioner's hands, but into God's 
 hands." 
 
 "If Mrs. Eddy is correct in stating that God's 
 work is done, then what use to consign a case 
 into His hands?" 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon raised her hand to her head as 
 she meekly said: "Oh, I don't know. What is 
 the matter with all these statements for they do 
 not seem to mean the same to-day as formerly, 
 and the farther I go, the more confused I become. 
 Surely, you do not want me to understand that 
 God is not the only healer?" 
 
 "I surely do want you to understand that the 
 
WHY AND HOW 53 
 
 God that you now have, is no healer at all," said 
 Mr. Williams. 
 
 u But I have the Christian Science God, the true 
 God. I forsook my old personal God years ago, 
 and changed to the real and true God, divine 
 Love." 
 
 "Yes, I will admit that you changed the name 
 of your God from personal God to divine Love, 
 but you still have divine Love acting as though It 
 were a personal God, and that is just as great 
 an error as acknowledging a personal God." 
 
 "But I am not ready to admit this." 
 
 "That is the trouble. You suppose that you 
 do know the true God, but in reality you do not. 
 Now what are you going to do with this state- 
 ment of Mrs. Eddy's, if your God is the only 
 healer. Here on page 41, line 4, 'Retrospection 
 and Introspection' we find this statement: 'Many 
 were the desperate cases I instantly healed.' This 
 is not the only place where Mrs. Eddy wrote 
 that she healed many cases. Was she mistaken 
 about the matter? Had she the right to say that 
 
54 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 she healed these cases, if you are right in your 
 thought that God is the only healer, and that I 
 of mine own self can do nothing?" asked Mr. 
 Williams. 
 
 "When will this confusion end? Many times 
 in the past, I have been so confused that I have 
 wished that I had never heard of Christian 
 Science. Then when I was clearer in thought, I 
 felt that there was nothing else worth while. Mr. 
 Williams, am I alone in this confusion, am I the 
 only one?" 
 
 "No, you are only one of thousands who have 
 come to me, and of a million who have not yet 
 come. Practically all Science students have mis- 
 understood Mrs. Eddy's writings." 
 
 "This does not seem possible," said Mrs. 
 Viloxon. "A few might err, but not the entire 
 field." 
 
 "I had that same idea long ago, and it cost 
 me endless toil and work to convince myself that 
 the many did not really understand Mrs. Eddy. 
 But after hundreds of practitioners came to me 
 
WHY AND HOW 55 
 
 for advice, and after I had interviewed many 
 teachers and others in Christian Science, the con- 
 clusion was slowly forced home to my thought 
 that the field had missed the way. Seeking the 
 cause of this, I came to the conclusion that it was 
 the method used to veil the plain Truth." 
 
 "Do you wish to intimate that 'Science and 
 Health' is a veiled book?" 
 
 "You may call it what you wish. The fact 
 stands out that I have several thousand letters 
 from all over the field, stating that they can get 
 no definite understanding from 'Science and 
 Health,' after years of study. Some of the let- 
 ters are from the most intellectual people of our 
 land. I would advise that you investigate this 
 and thus satisfy yourself on the point. You know 
 that the metaphysics of the Bible is veiled, and 
 it would not have been such a wonderful thing 
 if Mrs. Eddy had followed the same method." 
 
 "But if our text-book is veiled, where are we 
 to get the simple truth of Life? Are you sure 
 it is veiled, Mr. Williams?" 
 
56 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "I will point you to a few citations and leave 
 that for you to decide. The very first chapter in 
 'Unity of Good' is entitled, 'Caution in the Truth/ 
 If caution was used in stating Truth, then per- 
 haps Mrs. Eddy did not deem it wise to state 
 Truth too plainly. In the article in the seventy- 
 seventh edition of 'Unity of Good,' page 7, we 
 find this statement: 'The Science of physical 
 harmony, as now presented to the people in divine 
 Light, is radical enough to promote as forcible 
 collisions of thought as the age has strength to 
 bear.' Does not that statement mean that plainer 
 statements regarding God and man would bring 
 forth too forcible collisions of thought in this 
 infantile age? On page 8 of the same book and 
 article, we find: 'No wise mother, though a 
 graduate of Wellesley College, will talk to her 
 babe about the problems of Euclid.' You can 
 see the intimation in these words of Mrs. Eddy's. 
 Further down the page, we find the following: 
 'Wait patiently on the Lord; and in less than an- 
 other fifty years, His name will be magnified in 
 
WHY AND HOW 57 
 
 the apprehension of this new subject.' If all of 
 this does not point to the fact that she thought 
 best to give us Truth in diluted form or par- 
 tially veiled (the milk of the Word), then I am 
 mistaken. Also, these statements mean that the 
 unfoldment of Truth was not to stop with the 
 present diluted writings, but would be made 
 plainer as the age was ready to bear it. Nearly 
 two-thirds of the fifty years she spoke of has 
 passed. Mrs. Eddy is gone, therefore she can 
 no longer carry the work forward. Some of her 
 students must now do it. I am one who is striv- 
 ing to do so." 
 
 u Mr. Williams, I have never connected these 
 statements with the diluting or veiling of the 
 Word and the future unfoldment of the plain 
 meat of the Word, but I believe you are right. 
 Still, I question the wisdom of veiling Truth in 
 this age. Think of the confusion that has arisen 
 in the thought of thousands of students, and how 
 are they ever going to get out of this confusion?" 
 asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
58 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "I can only tell you that I was confused and 
 mystified as long as I held to the present edition 
 of 'Science and Health' as the only text-book of 
 metaphysics, and the confusion and mystification 
 left me after I secured a very early edition which 
 stated the fundamentals of the Christ Science, 
 plainly." 
 
 "But I have been told not to read the early 
 editions and that the present one was the most 
 precious and valuable," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 u And I am telling you to secure the very first 
 edition, if possible, and study it. It may interest 
 you to know that Mrs. Eddy in 'Retrospection 
 and Introspection,' page 55, said: 'The first edi- 
 tion of my most important work, 'Science and 
 Health,' containing the complete statement of 
 Christian Science, — the term employed by me to 
 express the Divine, or spiritual Science of Mind- 
 healing, was published in 1875.' I know of no 
 other than the first edition of 'Science and Health' 
 of which Mrs. Eddy states that it contains the 
 complete statement of Christian Science." 
 
WHY AND HOW 59 
 
 "Mr. Williams, if that statement is correct and 
 it must be, if it appears in Mrs. Eddy's writings, 
 I cannot understand why my last teacher told me 
 to not study the older editions." 
 
 "Neither can I, but now that the matter has 
 been pointed out to you, you can use your own 
 judgment. But we digress. The question we 
 were discussing was, If our sick thinking makes 
 us sick, why will not our own healthy thinking 
 heal us without the aid of any outside God or 
 power?" 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon shifted uneasily in her chair, and 
 it was plain to be seen that she did not like the 
 statement, but said nothing. So Mr. Williams 
 continued: "To show you what I mean by veil- 
 ing, and also to prove to you that it is your own 
 right thought that heals you, and not a mysterious 
 God or outside power, I will call your attention 
 to this statement page 417, line 27, latest edition 
 of 'Science and Health' ; and also how it appears 
 in the early writings, from the first to 14th edi- 
 tion. In the latest edition, we read: 'Explain 
 
60 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 audibly to your patients, as soon as they can bear 
 it, the complete control which Mind holds over 
 the body. Show them how mortal mind seems to 
 induce disease by certain fears and false conclu- 
 sions, and how divine Mind can cure by opposite 
 thoughts.' " 
 
 u But, Mr. Williams, that is just how I under- 
 stand Science to operate, that is, mortal mind 
 makes us sick, and divine Mind heals; and not 
 our own human thinking as you seem to imply." 
 
 "Yes, I know that is the sense which you get 
 from the statement, and it is the sense practically 
 all students get from it. But where and what is 
 this 'mortal mind' that makes you sick, and the 
 'divine Mind' that makes you well?" asked Mr. 
 Williams. 
 
 "Mortal mind, I understand to be the One evil, 
 and the divine Mind, I understand to be God." 
 
 "Very good, but what do you mean by the one 
 evil, and what do you mean by divine Mind? To 
 say that one is Satan and the other is God is no 
 
WHY AND HOW 61 
 
 explanation, but merely other names for the 
 same things. n 
 
 "Mr. Williams, I am sure you have read where 
 Mrs. Eddy wrote that error, evil, cannot be ex- 
 plained, because it is nothing; and also that God 
 is infinite, therefore, to be able to explain God 
 would be to make the infinite, finite. " 
 
 Mr. Williams looked keenly at his visitor and 
 said: "It seems strange to me for any one to 
 say, 'error (evil) cannot be explained,' and then 
 explain it by stating that it is nothing. On page 
 103, line 18, present edition of 'Science and 
 Health/ we read: 'As named in Christian 
 Science, animal magnetism or hypnotism is the 
 specific term for error, or mortal mind.' On 
 page 114, line 2, of the same book, Mrs. Eddy 
 wrote: 'therefore, to be understood, the author 
 calls sick and sinful humanity mortal mind.' 
 From this you can see that mortal mind, animal 
 magnetism, sick and sinful humanity are the same, 
 and that it is not an outside mind or outside power 
 called mortal mind that makes you sick, but it is 
 
62 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 your own mind and thought which causes all your 
 trouble by wrong thinking, and which Mrs. Eddy 
 has named mortal mind." 
 
 "This is a little different than I have ever an- 
 alyzed it. I can agree that it is our own sick 
 thinking that makes us sick, but I still maintain 
 that it is not our own thought that heals us," said 
 Mrs. Viloxon with a tone of certainty in her voice. 
 
 "In the article on 'Mental Practice' in 'Mis- 
 cellaneous Writings,' Mrs. Eddy said: 'This is 
 Christian Science: that mortal mind makes sick, 
 and Immortal Mind makes well; that mortal mind 
 makes sinners, while Immortal Mind makes 
 saints. 1 Now if our sick or wrong thinking is 
 the mortal mind that makes us sick, then why is 
 not our own right thinking the Immortal Mind 
 that heals us; for our right thinking is the oppo- 
 site of our wrong thinking, and the Immortal 
 Mind is the opposite of the so-called mortal 
 mind." 
 
 "I am entirely at sea," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 "You present the whole matter in an entirely new 
 
WHY AND HOW 63 
 
 light, and in a way that is entirely foreign to my 
 present thought on the subject." 
 
 "I was on the point of explaining the matter 
 to you when you broke in by saying that that was 
 the way you understood Science to operate; you 
 should have said 'imagined' it to operate, for 
 you do not understand. I will again refer to 
 the statement on page 417, of the present text- 
 book: 'Show them how mortal mind seems to 
 induce disease by certain fears and false conclu- 
 sions, and how divine Mind can cure by opposite 
 thoughts.' " 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon was about to speak, when Mr. 
 Williams raised his hand to stop her and said: 
 "Please don't bring forth the nonsense offered 
 as explanation by some, namely, that we 'think 
 God's thoughts after Him,' or that we are 'Chan- 
 nels' for the divine thought, or 'window panes,' 
 or some other equally silly statement." 
 
 "How did you know that I had something of 
 that sort to say?" asked the lady. 
 
 "Oh, that is the last refuge or subterfuge of- 
 
64 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 fered by the blind believer, and as I have handled 
 hundreds, I thought it was about time for you 
 to make some such statement. Let us go back to 
 the quotation under discussion. I have read it to 
 you as it appears in the present edition of 'Science 
 and Health' ; now I will read it to you as it was 
 originally written by Mrs. Eddy, and before its 
 meaning was obscured. It occurs on page 217 
 of the 14th edition of 'Science and Health,' and 
 reads as follows : 'Explain to your patient, audi- 
 bly as he can bear it, the utter control that mind 
 holds over the body: show him how it induces 
 disease by certain thoughts, and how it can rem- 
 edy it by opposite ones.' The word 'mind' is not 
 capitalized. Does not this bring out what I have 
 been telling you?" 
 
 "That statement is plain, simple and reason- 
 able. Why, oh why, was this fundamental state- 
 ment, so vital to understanding, changed to its 
 present form?" 
 
 "Can you gain any such sense or understanding 
 
WHY AND HOW 65 
 
 from the statement as it now appears in the latest 
 text-book ?" 
 
 "Absolutely not. The statement in the latest 
 edition would cause you to think that there is both 
 a mortal and a divine Mind, outside and foreign 
 to your own mind, that causes either the good or 
 the bad; while this last statement shows you posi- 
 tively that it is all your own right or wrong think- 
 ing that makes you sick or heals you." 
 
 "I am glad that you see it so plainly. This is 
 what I mean when I say that the present text-book 
 is veiled." 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon sat perfectly quiet for a few mo- 
 ments and was thinking deeply, then looking up, 
 she said: u Mr. Williams, I am afraid I am 
 becoming provoked at those who are responsible 
 for the veiling." 
 
 She now took the 3rd, 7th, and 14th editions 
 and read the statement in question in all of them, 
 and then in the latest edition, and remarked: "I 
 can scarcely believe my own eyes ! And to think 
 that I once owned a 14th edition with its plain 
 
66 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 statements, and later exchanged it for the present 
 text-book which is surely veiled." 
 
 "Having owned and formerly worked accord- 
 ing to the 14th edition, explains why you were 
 much more successful in your healing work years 
 ago than now, does it not?" 
 
 "Yes, yes, I see it all now. When I studied 
 the old edition I gained the sense that I must 
 myself refute the error, and explain to the patient 
 the seeming cause of his ills; and later, as I laid 
 aside this old edition and studied the new, I was 
 gradually led to the mental position where I be- 
 lieved I could do nothing and that an outside 
 power did the work. True, I had changed the 
 name of my God from a personal to an imper- 
 sonal God named divine Love, but yet outside 
 of me." 
 
 "The words of Jesus that the 'Kingdom is 
 within you,' should have told you different." 
 
 "How blind I have been! I freely admitted 
 that my evil thoughts had power, and just as 
 freely held that my own good thoughts had no 
 
WHY AND HOW 67 
 
 power. In other words, I gave evil (devil) all 
 the power, and God (good) no power. Is it any 
 wonder I did not succeed, and that I have been 
 wretched for years ?" Mrs. Viloxon sat think- 
 ing deeply for several moments. The man op- 
 posite her remained quiet, though a close ob- 
 server would have noticed a growing smile light- 
 ing up his face, as he watched the mental wres- 
 tlings of his visitor. 
 
 Suddenly, Mrs. Viloxon looked up and as 
 anger and resentment showed more and more 
 in her countenance, the smile on Mr. Williams' 
 face broadened. Then Mrs. Viloxon began to 
 speak rapidly: "Why was this veiling done? 
 Who is to blame? I think it an outrage and 
 shame to hide the plain Truth in this manner. 
 Here I have spent nearly half of this life in the 
 study of a veiled book, and never knew it was 
 veiled; and therefore gained an entirely errone- 
 ous understanding of God and Life." 
 
 Mr. Williams could not hold back the smile 
 which grew into a quiet, "Ha! ha! ha!" as he 
 
68 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 said: "Yes that is the next step. Get angry and 
 show resentment toward some one else, when 
 it is as much your own fault as any one's. You 
 are endowed by Mind, God, with the power of 
 reason; then why did you not use it instead of 
 swallowing whole, the things that other blinded 
 followers told you?" 
 
 "But how was I to know that I was being mis- 
 taught and misguided, in this manner ?" 
 
 "The same as myself. I did not follow the 
 tide. I did not accept these many nonsensical 
 statements, just because some one who was sup- 
 posed to be near the head of the movement stated 
 them. Because a statement sounded beautiful, 
 was no reason for its being a fact. I kept ask- 
 ing myself, why and how. When I could not 
 find a reasonable solution, I would not accept the 
 statements but stored them in memory for future 
 reasoning. When I first heard a Scientist say that 
 she was a channel for divine Mind, I at once 
 asked myself whether divine Mind worked in cer- 
 tain special channels; and my reason told me that 
 
WHY AND HOW 69 
 
 an everywhere present power would be every- 
 where present inside the channel, and also every- 
 where outside the channel; in other words, there 
 were no convenient channels in which God did 
 special work." 
 
 "But all of us are not blessed with the same 
 reasoning mind that you have Mr. Williams, 
 and therefore I consider a great wrong was com- 
 mitted when the Truth was veiled." 
 
 "Yes, all have the same reasoning mind as 
 myself. The only difference is, that I did not 
 deem it too much work or trouble to use my rea- 
 son; while most people are content to let others 
 do the reasoning, and then accept such reasoning 
 as their own, without first judging whether it is 
 right or wrong. Remember, Paul said: 'Try the 
 spirits.' This means, try the statements or 
 thoughts, in other words, through a reasoning 
 process prove the new thoughts that come to you 
 to be right or wrong before you accept them." 
 
 "Well, at any rate I have now come to the real- 
 ization that I know next to nothing of actual 
 
70 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 Christian Science, and I humbly ask, what shall 
 I do?" 
 
 "Mrs. Viloxon, do you remember the man who 
 came to Jesus and said: 'Master, what shall I 
 do to be saved?' " 
 
 "Yes, I have read it many times." 
 "The Master told him to do good deeds, to 
 be charitable, honest etc. The young man an- 
 swered in substance that he had always done these 
 things from childhood. Then Jesus said: 'Go 
 and sell all that thou hast and give to the poor, 
 and come and follow me,' that is, follow in my 
 footsteps and do as I am doing. And this is 
 w T hat I say to you. The Master did not mean 
 that the young man was to pauperize himself by 
 selling all his earthly belongings and giving the 
 proceeds to the poor. He did mean that he was 
 to lay aside all his erring human opinions regard- 
 ing life, and gain a demonstrable understanding 
 of God, Life, and give of this understanding to 
 those who were poor as far as Truth was con- 
 cerned. Sell (dispose of) your allegiance to 
 
WHY AND HOW 71 
 
 any thing that hinders your spiritual unfoldment, 
 even though at present it be your most cherished 
 possession, and follow Christ, Reason. True 
 Reason is the Savior, so begin at once to reason 
 truly and thus gain that mental harmony which 
 we call heaven, through understanding Life, God, 
 as It really is." 
 
 "I will follow your advice. You were the first 
 to open my blind eyes to true Reason (the real 
 Christ), and now I ask, will you show me the 
 way?" 
 
 u Yes, gladly, for that is my mission on earth. 
 I am devoting my every moment to unfolding 
 Truth to those who wish to be shown the way to 
 perfect mental harmony." 
 
 "Very well. I am ready to begin anew at 
 once," said Mrs. Viloxon, with determination. 
 
 "It is getting late, and your mentality is some- 
 what disturbed by the mental shocks I have had 
 to administer to awaken you; and so I would ad- 
 vise that you go to your hotel, and calmly reason 
 about the thoughts I advanced to you to-day; 
 
72 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 and then come to me again tomorrow at the same 
 time, and I shall strive to clear away all the mis- 
 teaching that has been given you in the past." 
 
 "Before I go, I should like to ask one more 
 question, which is this : Is there any other place 
 in Mrs. Eddy's writings where she mentions or 
 intimates that wrong thought is mortal mind, and 
 right thought is divine Mind?" 
 
 u Yes, there are many places that I could cite 
 you, but there is one which is so conclusive that 
 I think it alone will satisfy your thought." 
 
 Picking up 'Miscellaneous Writings,' Mr. 
 Williams turned to page 252, and said: "I will 
 read you what Mrs. Eddy has written here, 
 'Christian Science classifies thought thus: Right 
 thoughts are reality and power; wrong thoughts 
 are unreality and powerless, possessing the na- 
 ture of dreams. Good thoughts are potent; evil 
 thoughts are impotent, and they should appear 
 thus.' Here you have the direct statement that 
 right thoughts are reality and power; and as God 
 is all reality and power, you can see that, correctly 
 
WHY AND HOW 73 
 
 understood, right thoughts are divine Mind or the 
 creative Cause of all that is real. Wrong thoughts 
 are unreality and powerless, or the opposite of 
 right thoughts, the one real power; and there- 
 fore, mortal mind, being the opposite of divine 
 Mind, wrong thoughts are seen to be what Mrs. 
 Eddy was pleased to name mortal mind. Wrong 
 or sick thought (mortal mind) is that which makes 
 us sick, according to Mrs. Eddy; and right 
 thought, true Reason, or divine Mind, the oppo- 
 site of w T rong thought, is what heals us." 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon sat quietly in her chair a few 
 moments, then as she arose to go, said: "1 am 
 now positively satisfied that you are entirely right. 
 How blind we all have been, to call you the dis- 
 loyal one. Why, I am of the opinion that you are 
 the only one really loyal to Truth and Mrs. 
 Eddy's teaching." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 
 
 "I see that you are very prompt, " said Mr. 
 Williams as he extended his hand in greeting to 
 his visitor of the day before; then added, "step 
 into the private office. " 
 
 "Yes, I meant to be prompt. The fact is, I 
 could scarcely wait for the appointed hour to 
 come. There is so much I want to know and so 
 many questions I wish to ask," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Yes, that is the next symptom with all who 
 are newly awakened," laughingly, said Mr. Wil- 
 liams. 
 
 "Mr. Williams, I sat up most of last night 
 reading and studying, and I am satisfied of at 
 least one thing." 
 
 "Well, that is good. It certainly makes for 
 mental harmony, even if we have become satisfied 
 of only one little thing." 
 
 "But this is a big thing to me. I am fully sat- 
 
 74 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 75 
 
 isfied that you really have understood Mrs. Eddy 
 aright," said Mrs. Viloxon with great certainty. 
 
 "Oh pshaw! is that all?" jokingly, replied Mr. 
 Williams. "Why, that is nothing new. I knew 
 this ten years ago." 
 
 "Yes, you have known it, and if the Christian 
 Science field really knew it as I now do, your home 
 would be besieged by a multitude." 
 
 "Many more know it than you suppose. I 
 already have students in most of the large cities, 
 and teachers of my method in many places, and 
 my correspondence is becoming so large that I 
 do not find time to write to half of my friends of 
 the spirit." 
 
 "I cannot understand why, under these condi- 
 tions, you are willing to give so much of your 
 precious time to me." 
 
 "I will tell you. Your first letter to me, told 
 me plainly that you had a good and honest heart; 
 and second, while I have quite a number of stu- 
 dents in Chicago who use my method of apply- 
 ing Christian Science, yet none of them are so 
 
76 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 placed that they can engage actively in the healing 
 and teaching field, and when I met you yesterday 
 I felt that you were strong enough to open up 
 this big field actively, once you had actual under- 
 standing. As I always work for the greatest good 
 to the greatest number, I decided to take the 
 time to start you on the true path provided you 
 could be placed in a teachable frame of mind. 
 Now that you have become convinced that I really 
 have understood Mrs. Eddy's teaching, I am more 
 willing than ever to take the time necessary to 
 give you a thorough insight into actual Christian 
 Science, provided only, that you continue in the 
 active position of practitioner and teacher." 
 
 "But, the Manual, Mr. Williams. It forbids 
 me to teach unless I am first taught the Normal 
 course at Boston." 
 
 "Oh! the ritual," smiled Mr. Williams. "It 
 is so long since I looked into it that I had quite 
 forgotten that there is such a book. I have not 
 had the Normal course from the Boston Meta- 
 physical College, so according to the Manual, 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 77 
 
 I would not be allowed to teach; still on page 67 
 of 'Retrospection and Introspection/ Mrs. Eddy 
 wrote: 'A primary class student, richly imbued 
 with the spirit of Christ, is a better healer and 
 teacher than a Normal class student who partakes 
 less of God's Love' ; therefore, that by-law in the 
 Manual pertaining to teaching is seen to be in 
 error, for it stops the better teachers from teach- 
 ing." He paused for a moment, then added: 
 "But tell me, do you think that any of the present 
 teachers in that college could teach me anything 
 pertaining to metaphysics that I do not already 
 know?" 
 
 "Judging from some of my past experience I 
 would say, No, of course not. How absurd then, 
 for you to go there for teaching. Still, is not the 
 Manual supposed to be an inspired book?" asked 
 Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Yes, by the blind believers who give the word 
 'inspired' a mysterious meaning. Webster de- 
 fines the word to mean, 'to infuse into the mind' ; 
 also, 'informed or directed by the Holy Spirit.' 
 
78 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 When I teach you Truth, I am infusing Truth 
 into your mind, thus you are being inspired; and 
 if it is done with intelligence or actual understand- 
 ing of Life one could say that you were being 
 inspired by the Holy Spirit, — being informed by 
 the Holy Ghost. Let me call your attention to 
 Mrs. Eddy's definition of God in the Glossary 
 of 'Science and Health,' page 587, line 5. The 
 last definition given, is the single word 'intelli- 
 gence,' and it is not capitalized. In many of the 
 earlier editions, Mrs. Eddy capitalized the word 
 'Understanding,' denoting God; and in the pres- 
 ent edition of 'Science and Health,' page 536, 
 line 8, you find this: 'The divine understanding 
 reigns, is all.' It ought to be evident to you that 
 that which reigns and is all, must be God. So 
 the God that inspired Mrs. Eddy was not a mys- 
 terious something outside of herself, but her own 
 understanding of what is and what is not fact." 
 
 "I can hardly grasp what you say, for the view- 
 point is so new to me," said Mrs. Viloxon, 
 
 "Let's away with all mysticism which tends to 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 79 
 
 becloud reason, and let us unveil the plain Truth. 
 The Manual is no more inspired than the little 
 'Plain Talk' booklets that you have read, or any 
 other book or booklet that has been written from 
 the standpoint of actual understanding." 
 
 "But, Mr. Williams, there is printed on the fly 
 leaf of the Manual an extract from a letter in 
 'Miscellaneous Writings.' I have read it so often 
 that I think I can repeat it. It says: '(Manual 
 1908) The Rules and By-Laws in the Manual of 
 The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, 
 originated not in solemn conclave as in ancient 
 Sanhedrin. They were not arbitrary opinions im- 
 posed on another. They were impelled by a 
 power not one's own, were written at different 
 dates as the occasion required.' There is more 
 but I do not just recall." 
 
 "Don't try. It is not worth the mental effort. 
 This letter gives the blind believer an absolutely 
 erroneous impression, for it causes him to think 
 that either a personal or an impersonal God came 
 to Mrs. Eddy and whispered those by-laws into 
 
80 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 her ear; and thus is gained the false impression 
 that a mysterious God inspired the statements 
 written in the Manual; whereas, the fact is, Mrs. 
 Eddy knew that understanding or right conscious- 
 ness is God, and that her sense of right and not 
 a mysterious God was the 'power not one's own' 
 which caused her to write these by-laws. It were 
 as though she had said: I did not write my own 
 human opinion, but the Facts of Life as far as I 
 understood them. That the by-laws were not 
 always written from the standpoint of true con- 
 sciousness or actual understanding, is seen in the 
 fact that sometimes she changed them. If they 
 had always been written by divine understanding, 
 no rectification or change would have been neces- 
 sary." 
 
 "Mr. Williams, I am amazed at your ability 
 to sift these matters to the bottom and reveal the 
 common sense in them." 
 
 "Mysticism is the bane of all religion, and I 
 expose the seeming mystery wherever I can. I 
 have also had some Science students tell me that 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 81 
 
 the lesson sermons in the Quarterly were inspired, 
 intimating that a mysterious power was commu- 
 nicating these lessons to Mrs. Eddy. The reason 
 for this false sense is the 'Explanatory Note' 
 which appears in the Quarterly, and which is read 
 at every Sunday service. This 'Explanatory 
 Note' ends with the following: 'constitutes a ser- 
 mon undivorced from Truth, uncontaminated and 
 unfettered by human hypotheses and divinely 
 authorized/ What other sense could the shallow 
 thinker get from this but that God made up these 
 lesson sermons and handed them to Mrs. Eddy, 
 and authorized her to give them to her followers 
 the same as God is supposed to have made the ten 
 commandments and handed them to Moses. 
 Truly, the time for thinkers has come as Mrs. 
 Eddy has written, and they will need to think 
 very hard to sift the chaff from the wheat." 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon sat as if transfixed, gazing at the 
 man before her, but as she offered no reply, Mr. 
 Williams continued: "The explanatory note that 
 I just read you was from a Quarterly dated April 
 
82 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 5th, 1914. I have here an older Quarterly dated 
 January 2nd, 1898, and in this one the note ends: 
 'authorized by Christ/ instead of 'divinely author- 
 ized.' The word 'authorized* is in italics to em- 
 phasize the authority as coming from Christ. 
 Why the change, do you suppose ?" 
 
 "You have revealed so much to me that I have 
 not words with which to answer," said Mrs. 
 Viloxon. 
 
 "The babes in metaphysics do not understand 
 the difference between the words 'Jesus' and 
 'Christ'; and so, because of their past religious 
 beliefs, they get the sense that Jesus, the only be- 
 gotten son of God, has authorized these lesson 
 sermons; whereas the fact is, that the word 
 'Christ' means 'Truth,' true thought, right 
 thought, true reason, or in plain language, the 
 actual facts pertaining to Life. Thus you can see 
 that the actual authority which Mrs. Eddy was 
 talking about was not a mysterious Jesus or 
 Christ, but the real authority was real Truth. 
 Anyone else, writing truly, would have the same 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 83 
 
 right to state that what they have written was 
 authorized by 'Christ,' Truth. I can see but one 
 reason for the change in the 'Explanatory Note/ 
 and that is that the words 'authorized by Christ' 
 were too strong for even the faithful to digest, 
 in this progressive age, and so the other or milder 
 form was used." 
 
 "I believe you are right," said Mrs. Viloxon, 
 quietly. 
 
 "Now let us examine into the claim that these 
 lessons are 'uncontaminated and unfettered by 
 human hypotheses.' The men who wrote the 
 Bible were so-called human beings. Mrs. Eddy 
 was a so-called human being. The translators 
 who translated the Bible were so-called human 
 beings. The Biblical writers laid no claim to 
 infallibility, and we know that the translators 
 made many misjudgments in their attempt to trans- 
 late the real or spiritual meaning of the Scrip- 
 tures. Then where is the justice of the claim that 
 these lessons are uncontaminated by human sup- 
 position?" 
 
84 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "How blind and bewildered I have been. Oh, 
 why were these things done?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Now Mrs. Viloxon, never again mention the 
 Manual or the lesson sermons to me as divine 
 authority. I teach by the command of Jesus, not 
 by the authority of Boston; and I consider this 
 command regarding the spreading of the Gospel 
 (the good spell) over all the earth to far out- 
 reach any authority from Boston." 
 
 "I see that you are right. Yes, you are always 
 right. But, — " 
 
 "No more buts or ifs," broke in Mr. Williams. 
 "Remember the Master's admonition to the 
 young man, — to sell all (dispose of all this non- 
 sense), and follow Christ (true Reason)." 
 
 "I will. I shall start anew, at once," said Mrs. 
 Viloxon, with sound determination. 
 
 "That is the right mental attitude. Come, and 
 be born again; and this time into your God-being, 
 instead of into another human being." 
 
 "I don't quite understand what you mean, but 
 I am ready to begin," she said, and a moment later 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 85 
 
 added "I suppose that the first step will be to 
 send in my resignation to the local and Mother 
 church, and openly announce that I have severed 
 my connection with the veiled Truth. And then 
 firmly take my stand to uphold the real Truth." 
 "Yes, that would be the spectacular and erring 
 human way. But really, all that you have men- 
 tioned is non-essential, of no importance; and it 
 amounts to nothing in the right direction." 
 "I do not understand you, Mr. Williams." 
 "I will explain. Right thinking is the funda- 
 mental to all healing work. Can you not think 
 right without sending in your resignation? Will 
 it help you to think right to come out in a spectac- 
 ular way, and unnecessarily incur the enmity of 
 the religious zealot? As for upholding Truth, I 
 want you to change your thought about this mat- 
 ter. The real Truth needs no holding up or up- 
 holding. It is strong enough to stand alone. Your 
 work does not consist of upholding Truth, but in 
 finding out the Truth and conforming your 
 thought and actions thereto." 
 
86 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "What manner of man are you? I thought you 
 would hail with delight the announcement of my 
 determination to resign from the Science church 
 and openly espouse your Cause. " 
 
 "You were mistaken. I have no quarrel with 
 the Science church nor any other church. In re- 
 gard to organized church affairs, I would char- 
 itably say with Jesus, 'suffer it to be so now.' The 
 mental infant seems to need a crib. The thing 
 I am combating is the idea that mental infants 
 should remain infants forever, and never think 
 for themselves or stand alone. I want them to 
 become grown up, mentally, so that they can be- 
 gin to work out their own salvation; and not with 
 the fear and trembling that comes from uncer- 
 tainty and mysticism, but with the fearlessness 
 that comes from certainty and understanding. 
 As far as espousing my cause, — I haven't any of 
 my own. It is the cause of the universal brother- 
 hood of man, and of eternal salvation from sin, 
 sickness and death." 
 
 "Mr. Williams, I hope some day to understand 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 87 
 
 you better and then be able to judge you rightly. 
 Will you not tell me what attitude to take that I 
 may grow out of the church ?" 
 
 "On page 165, line 18 of 'Science and Health' 
 there is a marginal heading which reads: 'Causes 
 of sickness' and in the paragraph under this head- 
 ing, Mrs. Eddy says in substance, that when you 
 have a distressed stomach or aching head 'you 
 consult your brain in order to remember what has 
 hurt you, when your remedy lies in forgetting the 
 whole thing.' I have found that the way to get 
 rid of any mental inharmony, is to forget the 
 whole thing as rapidly as possible. The reason 
 this results in healing or mental harmony is be- 
 cause the mental law is, 'out of mind, out of body/ 
 Therefore, applying the same remedy to growth 
 out of church organization, I would advise that 
 you make the effort to forget the whole thing as 
 rapidly and as quietly as possible, by paying no 
 heed to the church or what the church members 
 may or may not say." 
 
88 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "Would you or would you not attend, the 
 services?" 
 
 "That is a question for each individual to 
 solve. If I felt like going occasionally, I would; 
 and when I did not feel so inclined, I would not 
 go. To attend church, just as a duty or to be 
 seen of men, is another form of hypocrisy. I 
 should say that the advice given by Mrs. Eddy 
 on some other subject, would be good in the pres- 
 ent instance. She says : 'emerge gently from mat- 
 ter into Spirit,' and I would add: emerge gently 
 from the infantile state into the 'measure of the 
 stature of the fullness of Christ'. " 
 
 "Your advice is sensible and your logic irref- 
 utable, and I shall attempt to leave the church so 
 gradually that it will not disturb a single babe in 
 Christ." 
 
 "That is the right idea. Mrs. Eddy says in 
 'Retrospection and Introspection,' page 61, line 
 29 : 'Let there be milk for babes.' Perhaps the 
 babes in Christ (those who cannot stand alone, 
 mentally) need the church to lean upon. She also 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 89 
 
 says in 'Science and Health/ page 371, line 20: 
 'I would not transform the infant at once into a 
 man, nor would I keep the suckling a lifelong 
 babe.' That is the point which I am trying to 
 get the satisfied church goers to see. Most of 
 them seem to be so bound by fear of the organi- 
 zation or hypnotized by their religious zeal and 
 devotion to church that they do not move for- 
 ward and up out of the church thought. Their 
 fears hold them in the servant or babe position 
 with no further mental growth.' ' 
 
 "I see it all now. You want the babes to grow 
 up and out of the infantile mental state, and do 
 it without disturbing the others. You do not 
 want the church destroyed/' said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "I should like to see the churches turned into 
 metaphysical colleges with competent teachers in 
 charge, giving several hours instruction daily, 
 instead of one or two hours per week, as under 
 the present system. The idea of building a hun- 
 dred thousand dollar structure and then using this 
 building two or three hours per week, seems folly 
 
90 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 to me. The Readers should be competent teach- 
 ers; and should teach from nine to twelve, and 
 from one to four o'clock of each day, as is done in 
 our public schools. These schools could be main- 
 tained in the same manner and by the same ex- 
 pense which now sustains them as churches. Now 
 that you have a clearer view of this matter, let 
 us take up the subject of right thinking." 
 
 "I gave much thought to what you said yester- 
 day about the healing being accomplished by our 
 own right thought, and not an outside power; 
 and with this clearer view in mind I could see 
 innumerable places in Mrs. Eddy's writings where 
 she intimates this, but why was it not plainly 
 stated so that none could mistake," said Mrs. Vi- 
 loxon. 
 
 "Many reasons have been given for the veil- 
 ing of Truth. I feel that it was a mistake to veil 
 it, at least in this progressive age. However, it 
 matters not. The work of unveiling has begun, 
 and will not be stopped until all is made plain. 
 It is now becoming known that Truth is true 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 91 
 
 thinking, is right thinking; and that our work is 
 to discover the facts of Life (which is Truth), 
 and keep all of our thinking in conformity with 
 the facts of Being; and thus experience the true or 
 harmonious Life, through daily right thinking." 
 
 "Yes," she replied; "I can see the great neces- 
 sity of our knowing what is and what is not fact, 
 before we can hope to always think right." 
 
 "I wish to call your attention to a marginal 
 heading on page 114, line 25 of 'Science and 
 Health/ which reads: 'Causation mental'. The 
 paragraph to which this heading is attached states : 
 'Christian Science explains all cause and effect as 
 mental, not physical.' You will note that the 
 statement reads, 'all cause' ; and there are no capi- 
 tals to mar or obscure the sense. If the cause of 
 all is mental, then mentality must be the seat of 
 the cause of all. Carrying the subject further, 
 the ills and blessings that you experience would 
 be the experiences created by your own thought; 
 and the experiences would be either ills or bless- 
 
92 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 ings according to whether your own thought was 
 right or wrong," said Mr. Williams. 
 
 "I can scarcely agree with you on that subject, 
 for the Bible teaches and Mrs. Eddy emphasizes 
 the statement that the same fount sends not forth 
 sweet and bitter waters, as your statement seems 
 to imply," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 Mr. Williams was not in the least disturbed by 
 w T hat his visitor said, although she thought that 
 she had discovered a weak spot or a contradic- 
 tion in his reasoning. 
 
 After looking intently at his visitor for a mo- 
 ment, he said: "I am pleased to note that your 
 reason is becoming more active. Right thought 
 and wrong thought are not from the same fount 
 or foundation, even though both of these activi- 
 ties are to be found in the individual mentality. 
 Right thought has its fount or foundation in un- 
 derstanding or God. Wrong thought has its 
 foundation in erring belief or Satan, though both 
 gain external expression through the individual 
 mentality." 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 93 
 
 "I seem to see dimly what you are trying to 
 have me understand, but if the cause of all is men- 
 tal, why do we say that Spirit is the cause of all 
 and that all is spiritual ?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Right mental action or right thought would 
 be true mental action or Truth, and the Biblical 
 writers used the word Spirit to designate right 
 thought from wrong thought, and the word spir- 
 itual to designate real or right effects from wrong 
 effects. They knew that the mental element was 
 a reasoning element, and so could think on both 
 sides of any question; and therefore, the infan- 
 tile mentality might think wrong, and thus pro- 
 duce a seeming wrong condition. Wrong thought 
 is error, and the only Satan there is. Right thought 
 (right consciousness) and Spirit are one and the 
 same. On page 453, line 6 of 'Science and Health/ 
 Mrs. Eddy wrote: 'Right and wrong, truth and 
 error, will be at strife in the minds of students, un- 
 til victory rests on the side of invincible truth.' 
 Here we have the word 'right' given the signifi- 
 cance of Truth or God; and 'wrong' given the sig- 
 
94 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 nificance of error or Satan. It ought now to be 
 plain that our ills are caused by evil, error, our 
 wrong thought. Then what is more reasonable 
 than that they can be, and are, healed by our right 
 thought, the opposite of evil? In this is seen the 
 fact that we really do heal ourselves; and yet 
 at the same time it is God, Truth, right or true 
 thought, that does the work." 
 
 "I have read that statement many times and 
 remember distinctly that the word 'truth' was not 
 capitalized. Therefore, I cannot agree with you 
 when you bring out the sense that Mrs. Eddy 
 meant Truth, God, in that statement," said Mrs. 
 Viloxon. 
 
 "Oh, those capitals! What an easy way to veil 
 the real meaning and lead the student astray. The 
 confusion resulting therefrom cannot be meas- 
 ured. What greater truth could there be than 'in- 
 vincible truth'? However, to fully convince you, 
 I will call your attention to page 362 of 'Miscel- 
 lany,' by Mary Baker Eddy. Here we find: 'I 
 rejoice with you in the victory of right over wrong, 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 95 
 
 of Truth over error,' and the word 'Truth' in this 
 statement carries the capital. Are you con- 
 vinced?" asked Mr. Williams. 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon nodded her head, as she re- 
 marked: "Please continue, for I have no words 
 with which to express my appreciation of the en- 
 lightenment that you are bringing to my thought." 
 
 "Very well. In common parlance, we could 
 say that our wrong thought is the cause of our 
 ills, and our own right thought is the healer. An 
 astute reasoner might remind us that he had often 
 thought of a certain illness and still not experi- 
 enced it, and many Scientists would remind us 
 of the fact that they had often thought of them- 
 selves as well without being healed." 
 
 "Why yes, that is true; and how would you 
 explain this if it is our thought that is the sole 
 cause?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "The explanation is very simple when — " 
 
 "Yes, it all seems very simple to you, but very 
 wonderful to me," broke in Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "It will also be simple and reasonable to you 
 
96 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 before we are through. The explanation of why 
 we can think of a disease and not experience it, 
 and think health and not be healed, is this: The 
 mentality does not externalize its passing thought, 
 merely; but in reality it only externalizes its 
 thought convictions and conclusions. It is well 
 that this is true, else there would be a constantly 
 changing panorama exhibited by the body. We 
 know from daily experience that we can think 
 of taking a walk, and still not take the walk; but 
 when our thought reaches a conclusion or deci- 
 sion, then we act out the thought conclusion or 
 conviction, by walking. The same is true when 
 we think we are going to be sick. The mere 
 thought, without repeated thinking to the point 
 of mental conviction, will not result in sickness; 
 but let us arrive at a sound conclusion or convic- 
 tion and hold this conclusion for a time, and the 
 ill to correspond will be expressed by the body." 
 "I understand, Mr. Williams. It is just as 
 though the passing or fleeting thought does not 
 register on the body; but the thoughts that reach 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 97 
 
 a conclusion or mental conviction do register on 
 the body as sick or healthy conditions, to corre- 
 spond to the nature and quality of the thought 
 conviction. " 
 
 "Yes, that is one way of stating it. This also 
 illustrates how one may heal himself through con- 
 tinued right thinking to the point where a sound 
 conviction is gained." 
 
 "It is not very clear to me as yet that my own 
 right mental conclusion can heal me. But I sup- 
 pose that is because in the past, I agreed with the 
 idea that my wrong thinking made me sick, but 
 thought that a power outside of me named divine 
 Mind was responsible for the healing, and not my 
 own right thinking," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "No doubt, that is the reason. But it ought to 
 be evident to you now, that if your sick thoughts 
 made you sick, your own healthy thinking would 
 make you healthy." 
 
 "Yes, that sounds so very reasonable, but why 
 was not this stated plainly, by Mrs. Eddy?" 
 
 "All that I can say to you is, that it is quite 
 
98 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 plainly stated in the earlier editions of 'Science 
 and Health,' though changed back and forth by 
 some one in the various editions following. For 
 instance, on page 228 of the third edition, we 
 read : 'Whatever the mind desires to produce on 
 the body it should state mentally and abide by this 
 statement/ You will notice that it reads, 'what- 
 ever the mind desires to produce 1 . This 'the 
 mind' can mean nothing but your own mind." 
 
 "That certainly is a plain statement. I wonder 
 why it was ever removed from the text-book?" 
 the lady asked. 
 
 "It was not removed from the text-book, but 
 apparently it was too plain as it seemed to leave 
 that mysterious God of the blind believer out of 
 the healing work, and delegated the healing power 
 to the individual's own mind. However, even as 
 late as the 37th edition of 'Science and Health,' 
 the statement reads : 'Whatever the mind desires 
 to produce on the body it should express mentally, 
 and hold fast to this idea.' There is a little 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 99 
 
 change in the words, but the sense has not been 
 disturbed." 
 
 "Yes, I should say that both statements mean 
 the same, and would be very helpful to the pa- 
 tient searcher for the healing Truth." 
 
 "Now, Mrs. Viloxon, note carefully the differ- 
 ence in the statement as given in the 78th edition. 
 On page 391, w T e read: 'Whatever mortal mind 
 desires to produce on the body it should express 
 mentally and hold fast to this ideal.' You will 
 note that the word 'mortal' has been added, as 
 though only the erring mind produced effects on 
 the body." 
 
 "What could have been Mrs. Eddy's reason for 
 adding that word?" The question was asked with 
 great astonishment. 
 
 "I think the reason is as I stated before, namely, 
 that perhaps some one pointed out to her that, 
 as the statement stood in the third edition, she was 
 having the so-called human mind do the healing, 
 and thus apparently leaving the mysterious God 
 out of the work." 
 
100 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "I think it a shame that these changes were 
 made," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "That is not the worst of it, for in the present 
 text-book we find still another change in this same 
 statement. On page 392 of the 1907 edition of 
 'Science and Health/ line 12, Mrs. Eddy wrote: 
 'Whatever benefit mind desires to produce on the 
 body, should be expressed mentally and thought 
 should be held fast to this ideal.' You will notice 
 that the word 'mortal' has been dropped." 
 
 "Yes. Mrs. Eddy went back to her first state- 
 ment, but why?" asked Mrs. Viloxon with per- 
 plexity. 
 
 "Not quite back to her first statement, for 
 the very enlightening article 'the' has been 
 left out. When we write 'the mind' we all 
 know that it refers to the mind of the individ- 
 ual; but with the article 'the' left out, it leaves 
 you to guess whether she meant mortal mind, 
 human mind, or divine Mind; and I know from 
 experience that all are still guessing." 
 
 "But why did Mrs. Eddy again drop the word 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 101 
 
 'mortal' from the statement after once having 
 used it?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "The only reason I can see is, that again some 
 one pointed out to her that according to the state- 
 ment with the word 'mortal' in it, she was prac- 
 tically saying that mortal mind was producing the 
 good as well as the bad effects experienced in the 
 body; in other words, mortal mind, according to 
 that statement, made us sick, and could also pro- 
 duce so-called bodily health." 
 
 "What a conglomeration of opposites to be 
 found in a text-book!" said Mrs. Viloxon, with 
 a look of disgust. "Are you sure that Mrs. Eddy 
 made all of these changes?" 
 
 "No, I am not sure, and it matters not who 
 made them. The fact is that they are in the book 
 that Christian Scientists accept as their text-book 
 to the understanding of eternal Life." 
 
 "Is it not the general opinion of the Science 
 field that Mrs. Eddy constantly kept revising 
 'Science and Health' with the intention of making 
 
102 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 it more correct, and easier to understand?" asked 
 Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 u Yes. I have heard that stated, and some have 
 told me they were certain that this was the reason 
 for the constant changes. But what is 'general 
 opinion'? Is it a cause or an effect ?" 
 
 "I don't believe that I understand your ques- 
 tion," she replied. 
 
 "General opinion is not a cause, but an effect; 
 and we can scarcely have any effect without a 
 cause. In my investigations of general opinions 
 regarding politics and other public affairs, I have 
 satisfied myself, that back of the usual general 
 opinion, there is a cause; which cause is usually 
 composed of a nucleus of three or four people 
 who plan or form the seed of this future general 
 opinion. Those at the helm know just the right 
 soil in which to plant this seed of future general 
 opinion, so that it will spread rapidly. From this 
 it can be seen that, as a rule, public opinion is not 
 the spontaneous, automatic outgrowth of general 
 opinion, but is really the opinion or will of a few." 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 103 
 
 "Do you wish to intimate that this is what was 
 done in the present instance?" asked Mrs. Vi- 
 loxon. 
 
 "I wish to intimate nothing. I was merely 
 illustrating how the opinion or will of a few can 
 be made to permeate a certain group of people 
 through mental contagion; and therefore, we 
 should not be guided too easily by public opinion, 
 but should think and reason for ourselves." 
 
 "But Mr. Williams, if I cannot depend on my 
 text-book, what am I to do?" And fear and anx- 
 iety were in her voice. 
 
 Mr. Williams laughed softly, then said: "Ex- 
 cuse me for laughing, but your question brought 
 a statement of Mrs. Eddy's so forcibly to my 
 thought that I could not help but laugh." 
 
 "Would you mind repeating the statement for 
 me?" she asked. 
 
 "I will look it up for you. It is in 'Science and 
 Health.' Yes, here it is, page 238, line 10, and 
 it says : "Losing her crucifix, the Roman Cath'dlic 
 girl ibid, 'I hWve nb&in& left bii't biffttV' 
 
104 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon, who had moved forward in 
 anxious anticipation, slowly leaned back in her 
 chair, with her gaze fixed steadily on the laughing 
 face before her. After a few moments thought, 
 she said: "I cannot fathom you at all. You have 
 such a certainty in your understanding that noth- 
 ing seems to have escaped you, and you appear 
 to me like an unshakable rock." 
 
 "If that which you, in the past, called under- 
 standing did not make you certain and unshakable 
 as a rock, then it was not real understanding, but 
 belief, which you called understanding." 
 
 "Perhaps you are right, for it is evident to me 
 that what I have gained by my study has not made 
 me certain and unshakable, but rather the reverse. 
 I well know what you mean by that reference to 
 the crucifix, but what am I to do without a text- 
 book?" 
 
 "I did not tell you to throw away your text- 
 book. It is your own good reason which is tell- 
 ing you, that, from what I have pointed out, the 
 text-book is not quite as infallible an authority 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 105 
 
 as you thought. I have also been citing statements 
 from the earlier editions, and telling you that the 
 early editions are much plainer ; therefore, what is 
 to hinder you from getting an earlier edition, if 
 you feel that you must have a 'Science and 
 Health' ?" 
 
 "Mr. Williams, you are unfolding so many new 
 thoughts to me that I am afraid I shall forget 
 some of the very important ones. Would you 
 object if I took a few notes ?" 
 
 "No objection at all. Take all that you care 
 to." 
 
 "Thank you. You said something about right 
 thoughts being the God that heals, and I should 
 like to take that down so as to understand it bet- 
 ter. The thing that is not clear to me is this: If 
 my right thought is God, what relation do I hold 
 to my right thought or God?" 
 
 "Good! We are really beginning to think. The 
 relation which you bear to your right thought is 
 that of father to son." 
 
 "I don't believe I understand that," said Mrs. 
 
106 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 Viloxon, as a look of perplexity overspread her 
 face. 
 
 "No, I suppose you don't. Yet, according to 
 Mrs. Eddy, you have never started right in Chris- 
 tian Science until you do understand this." 
 
 "I don't remember having read anything of 
 this import, written by Mrs. Eddy. Will you tell 
 me where I can find the statement ?" 
 
 "Mrs. Viloxon, do you remember that the Scrip- 
 tures state that upon one occasion, Jesus said to 
 Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews : 'Verily, verily 
 I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he 
 cannot see the Kingdom of God' ?" 
 
 "Yes," she replied. "I have read the statement 
 many times, and I have been told by some that 
 the coming into Christian Science was this being 
 born again." 
 
 "No, not that which you call Christian Science. 
 The re-birth or new birth is much more than 
 that." 
 
 "I do not follow you at all, Mr. Williams." 
 
 "I will explain. Mrs. E<fdy, in speaking of 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 107 
 
 Jesus, said, he 'arose in his God-Being.' Do you 
 know what a God-Being is?" 
 
 "No, I don't believe I ever gave it a thought." 
 
 "We are all born so-called human beings, and 
 Paul calls this being, the natural man, for he said: 
 'first cometh the natural man,' then 'the spiritual 
 man'. He might as well have said: then comes 
 the Spirit-man, the Spirit-Being (the Being who 
 knows that he is Spirit), the God-Being (the Be- 
 ing who knows that he is God). Therefore, 
 the re-birth is not merely the joining of the Chris- 
 tian Science church or any other church; but to 
 arise mentally to the position of your God-Being; 
 or to awake to the Truth that you are a God- 
 Being, instead of a human being; to awake to 
 the knowledge that you are a being that is God." 
 
 As Mr. Williams stopped speaking, he noticed 
 from the startled look in the eye of his visitor, 
 that she was laboring under a sense of great fear; 
 but he said nothing further, seeming to wait for 
 his visitor to speak. 
 
 After several more moments of silence, Mrs. 
 
108 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 Viloxon said: "Oh, Mr. Williams, why did you 
 say that? I did have such great hopes that I had 
 found the actual Truth in what you were telling 
 me; but your last statement, that we are God, has 
 shocked and startled me, and also proven to me 
 that you have mistaken the way. Oh! I am so 
 sorry." 
 
 "Instead of being sorry either for me or your- 
 self, you should demand of me the proof that we 
 are God; and if I cannot prove what I have stated, 
 to your full satisfaction, then it will be time 
 enough to be sorry." 
 
 "But you cannot prove that we are God. I 
 distinctly remember Mrs. Eddy's statement that 
 man is never God." 
 
 "I fully agree with that statement. Man is 
 never God. But this statement in no wise conflicts 
 with the statement that you are God." 
 
 "Mr. Williams! How can you make such an 
 absurd statement?" 
 
 The same calm, reassuring smile began to ap- 
 pear on the face of the teacher, and it somehow 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 109 
 
 told his visitor that he would be able to prove 
 his words, satisfactorily; and she waited eagerly 
 for him to begin. At length he said: u This very 
 question is the rock which divides the shallow be- 
 liever from the understander; the so-called human 
 being from the God-Being that Mrs. Eddy wants 
 us to be. I would not have made the statement 
 if I had doubted my ability to make you see the 
 truth of it." 
 
 After a pause, he continued: "First, I will ex- 
 plain to you your relation to your right thought. 
 I stated that it was the same as that of father to 
 son. You will admit that right thought is the out- 
 come of right mentality. Right mentality and 
 right consciousness are one and the same. Right 
 consciousness is true consciousness, and Mrs. Eddy 
 says in 'Unity of Good' that 'all true conscious- 
 ness is God.' We have always considered God 
 as the Father or first Cause. If right thought 
 is the outcome of right mentality, then it is born 
 or created by the Father of all and would be the 
 real Son of God, the Savior or Christ; thus, the 
 
110 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 relationship of father and son is established. I 
 should prefer that the word 'Son' be written 
 'Sun,' for right thought is also the light or con- 
 scious awareness of the primal element, named 
 consciousness. To lead this reasoning further 
 and show you that you are God, you will need to 
 follow me carefully and think before you speak 
 so as not to contradict yourself. Does Mrs. Eddy 
 teach that God is all?" asked Mr. Williams. 
 
 "Yes," slowly answered Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Can there be more than all?" 
 
 "No, and Mrs. Eddy also says not," replied 
 Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "If God is all, it is evident that there cannot 
 be more than all, for all includes everything. If 
 there seemed to be anything outside of the all, it 
 would be nothing but a seeming, or really noth- 
 ing." 
 
 "That is a peculiar statement, but if God is all, 
 
 there could be nothing else," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 - ^'Very well. If God is all, then you are God 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 111 
 
 or nothing, for God cannot be the all, and there 
 be you besides." ^ 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon was silent for a moment, then 
 said: "Mrs. Eddy also says that God and His 
 idea is all, and I claim to be the idea of God." 
 
 "Yes, I know she said that God and His idea 
 is all, but do you understand what she means ?" 
 asked Mr. Williams. 
 
 "Why yes, certainly. She means that there is 
 a supreme Being named God, and us. The su- 
 preme Being would be God, and we would be 
 idea or man." 
 
 "Did you ever find any place in 'Science and 
 Health' where Mrs. Eddy said that 'you are 
 man'?" 
 
 "That seems a foolish question to me. I am 
 sure Mrs. Eddy has said it a hundred times. 
 Please hand me that 'Science and Health/ and 
 I will show it to you." 
 
 Handing the book to her, Mr. Williams said: 
 "Very well, but remember the statement you are 
 
112 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 looking for is 'you are man' and not some other 
 assertion." 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon began to search and turn the 
 pages, while Mr. Williams quietly waited. At 
 length she said: "Here Mrs. Eddy wrote: 'man 
 is the image of God/ which is the same thing as, 
 'you are man.' 
 
 "It would be, providing you could find a place 
 where she said, you are the image of God." 
 
 "But I am the image of God. The Bible 
 teaches that man is the image of God, and so 
 does Mrs. Eddy." 
 
 "Yes, both the Bible and Mrs. Eddy teach that 
 man is the image of God; but neither one teaches 
 that you are man; nor do they teach that you arc 
 the image of God." 
 
 "Mr. Williams, I can see no difference at all." 
 
 "Perhaps not, but if you did see the difference, 
 you would no doubt make short work of your 
 ills." 
 
 "Well, I am certain that I am not God. It's 
 absurd, and the absurdity is clearly seen in this, — 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 113 
 
 if I were God and I prayed, then I would be 
 praying to myself. What nonsense !" and there 
 was a look of genuine disgust on the woman's 
 face. 
 
 The teacher's face showed just the opposite 
 emotion. First came the smile, and after a little 
 the smile broke forth into a merry laugh. After 
 a bit, he controlled his laughter and said: "Ex- 
 cuse me. I was not laughing at you, but at the 
 idea of you, praying to yourself," and he laughed 
 again. 
 
 At length his visitor relaxed somewhat and 
 laughed softly, as she said: "You were joking 
 were you not, when you made the statement that 
 I was God? I suppose you said it to see what 
 I would say." 
 
 A look of seriousness at once appeared on the 
 teacher's face, as he answered: "No, Mrs. 
 Viloxon, I was never more serious in my life. 
 The fact that you are God is what I am striving 
 to teach you." 
 
 "But Mrs. Eddy does not teach that. She 
 
114 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 never said that we were God," said Mrs. Viloxon, 
 with a decided toss of her head. 
 
 "Suppose she did not say it, but that I claim 
 it and teach it. What would you say?" 
 
 "I would say that you were wrong and teach- 
 ing wrong." 
 
 "Suppose Mrs. Eddy did say it, what then?" 
 asked Mr. Williams. 
 
 "Well, I don't know what I would think. But 
 if it could be proven to me that she did say it, 
 I would be inclined to think it was right." 
 
 "In other words, you are so wedded to Mrs. 
 Eddy that if some one else stated a truth you 
 would not believe it; but if Mrs. Eddy said some- 
 thing, even though in error, you would believe it. 
 Don't you think that is about as narrow as any 
 one can be? A fact is a fact, and it makes no 
 difference who states the fact. The thing is to 
 prove that it is a fact, or disprove it. Neverthe- 
 less, Mrs. Eddy did say in substance, and also 
 taught that we are God. When she wrote 'God 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 115 
 
 is all/ she stated that you are God, as I have 
 shown you." 
 
 "But the single statement that 'God is all,' 
 would not satisfy me, for it does not plainly state 
 that I am God." 
 
 "Mrs. Eddy expected that the awakened stu- 
 dent would be able to reason a little; and sup- 
 posed that if she stated that 'God is all,' and the 
 student found himself something, he must con- 
 sider himself part of the all, or God," replied 
 Mr. Williams. 
 
 "Well, that does not satisfy me," said Mrs. 
 Viloxon with great positiveness. "And besides, 
 I know that Mrs. Eddy never wrote that we are 
 God." 
 
 "That is the peculiar part of you Christian 
 Science students. You think you know all that 
 Mrs. Eddy ever said, and most of you have never 
 read beyond the mental milk bottle. Why don't 
 you wake up to the facts. Every one knows that 
 you feed infants on milk; and therefore, the first 
 book that you would give a mental infant, would 
 
116 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 be a book with the milk of the Word in it. The 
 plain, undiluted meat of the Word can be found 
 in her writings, but scarcely in the present edition 
 of 'Science and Health'." 
 
 "You mean that the latest edition of 'Science 
 and Health' is the milk of the word?" 
 
 "Yes, that is my understanding of it; for I find 
 much plainer statements of Truth elsewhere in 
 her writings." 
 
 "Will you kindly tell me where?" she asked. 
 
 "There are many plain statements in the first 
 few editions of 'Science and Health,' in her two 
 pamphlets entitled, 'Christian Healing,' and 'The 
 People's Idea of God,' and also in certain parts 
 of her other writings," replied the teacher. 
 
 "I have not spent much time on her other 
 works," said Mrs. Viloxon. "I devoted all my 
 time to 'Science and Health'." 
 
 "That is what all the various practitioners tell 
 me. This sticking to a babe's diet of milk, when 
 they ought to grow up mentally and partake of 
 the meat of the Word, is the thing I object to." 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 117 
 
 "Please show me what you mean by the meat 
 of the Word." 
 
 "Very well, I will do so"; and reaching over 
 on his desk, he took up the first edition of "Science 
 and Health" and turned to page 39, and said: 
 "read the statement that is underscored." 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon took the book, and read aloud: 
 "To know that we are Soul and not body is start- 
 ing right." Then she glanced at Mr. Williams, 
 and a moment later read the statement silently. 
 Not yet being satisfied, she turned to the front 
 of the book and read, "Science and Health by 
 Mary Baker Glover." Looking into space, she 
 slowly laid the book in her lap, and said : "There 
 must be some mistake." 
 
 "Yes, there is a mistake," remarked Mr. Wil- 
 liams; "but the mistake is in your thought, and 
 not in that statement." 
 
 "But the word 'SouP is capitalized, denoting 
 God," was the reply. 
 
 "Then you think perhaps it is a typographical 
 error?" he asked. 
 
118 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "It certainly must be, unless there are other 
 places where she says the same thing." 
 
 "Please look on page 54, and read the state- 
 ment that you find underscored." 
 
 Picking up the book again, she turned to the 
 page mentioned and read aloud: "Therefore to 
 be the recipient of Truth, we must begin to rec- 
 ognize ourselves Soul and not body." 
 
 Mr. Williams now asked: "Is the word 'Soul' 
 in that statement capitalized, denoting God?" 
 
 A very slow, "Yes," was the answer. 
 
 He waited for her to say something more but 
 as she remained silent, he asked: "Would you 
 like more proof?" 
 
 "Have you more?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Yes, turn to page 77, and read what is un- 
 derscored there." 
 
 Turning to the page indicated, she read aloud : 
 "The final understanding that we are Spirit must 
 come." 
 
 "Does the word 'Spirit' carry a capital?" asked 
 Mr. Williams. 
 
EMERGENCE INTO THE LIGHT 119 
 
 "Yes, it does," was the answer; and her voice 
 was scarcely audible. 
 
 "Now turn to page 155, and read what is 
 underscored." 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon did as requested and read: "That 
 we are Spirit, and Spirit is God, is undeniably 
 true." 
 
 "Turn to page 14, please," said Mr. Williams. 
 
 Finding the page, Mrs. Viloxon read: "We 
 are Spirit, Soul and not body," then remarked: 
 "the words 'Spirit' and 'Soul' are capitalized. I 
 am dumbfounded!" She then leaned back in her 
 chair as though very weary, and slowly laid the 
 book in her lap. 
 
 Mr. Williams now said, "Turn to page — " 
 
 "That will do, Mr. Williams," broke in Mrs. 
 Viloxon. "I cannot bear more just now." After 
 a moment, she added: "Would you mind if I 
 copied those statements into my note book?" 
 
 "I have no objection whatever." 
 
 After she had finished copying the statements, 
 she closed her note book, and said: "If you 
 
120 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 don't mind I will go to my room at the hotel. 
 I must have time to think this matter all out by 
 myself." 
 
 "A very wise plan!" said Mr. Williams; and 
 then continued in a kindly tone: "and please don't 
 worry about the matter, but reason calmly; and 
 you will find that the simple Truth of those won- 
 derful statements will unfold to your conscious- 
 ness as the only true solution of the Master's 
 teaching. You may come at the same hour to- 
 morrow." 
 
 "I shall try to be prompt," replied Mrs. 
 Viloxon, as she went out of the door. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE SICKLE 
 
 The next day, Mrs. Viloxon was scarcely 
 seated in Mr. Williams' office before she began 
 saying: "I knew all along yesterday, while we 
 were discussing the matter of our being God, 
 that there was something wrong, and that some 
 vital thing which I ought to have remembered, 
 had escaped me. Last night as I was carefully 
 reviewing the matter, mentally, I awoke to the 
 true situation." 
 
 "I should be glad to hear the outcome of your 
 reasoning," said Mr. Williams. 
 
 "I was positive that I could not be God, and 
 that Mrs. Eddy did not so teach; and I also felt 
 that divine Love would lead me, if I would only 
 ask." 
 
 "And did you ask divine Love to lead you?" 
 
 "Yes I did," said Mrs. Viloxon; "and I had 
 an almost instantaneous demonstration." 
 
 121 
 
122 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "I am very much interested. Would you mind 
 telling me about it?" asked Mr. Williams. 
 
 "That is my only reason for coming. I did 
 not come to-day with the intention of asking fur- 
 ther enlightenment from you, because I am satis- 
 fied that you are wrong in your thought. Or- 
 dinarily, I should have just gone back to Chicago, 
 but I am sure that you are sincere, Mr. Williams, 
 even though you are wrong; and I felt it no more 
 than right that I show you the way, because you 
 at least tried to show me the way," and there 
 was a beaming smile on her face, as she said it. 
 
 "That was certainly a kind thought, and I am 
 all wrought up to hear what you have discovered 
 which proves to you that my teaching is wrong," 
 and a quiet smile played about the lips of Mr. 
 Williams. 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon noticed it, and said: "You don't 
 seem very wrought up in appearance." 
 
 "You know appearances are often deceiving. 
 Now for instance, in your own case, I thought 
 from your appearance that I was going to have 
 
THE SICKLE 123 
 
 a real thinker in you; but from what I just heard 
 I am inclined to think that appearances are indeed 
 deceptive." 
 
 "I am a thinker, else I would not have been 
 able to see through all this error." 
 
 "Well I am ready to be convinced that you 
 are right," said Mr. Williams, kindly. 
 
 "I was thinking the whole matter over last 
 night, and while working mentally I kept think- 
 ing: divine Love will show me the error. After a 
 half hour's work, divine Love did show me the 
 error, and this is it : Mrs. Eddy repudiated these 
 early writings as incorrect, and that is why we do 
 not find these seemingly plain statements in the 
 present edition of 'Science and Health'; and this 
 also explains why my teacher told me not to read 
 or study the earlier editions. He knew they were 
 wrong, and therefore warned me, so that I would 
 not be misled." 
 
 "That is rather a broad statement, and on the 
 whole is very unkind to Mrs. Eddy. In that 
 statement you practically admit that Mrs. Eddy 
 
124 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 made mistakes when she wrote the early editions, 
 and therefore did not know what she was writing 
 about. I would like to know, according to your 
 idea, just when you think Mrs. Eddy did come to 
 understand Science. " 
 
 "No, I am not saying that Mrs. Eddy made 
 mistakes when she wrote the early editions, " said 
 Mrs. Viloxon hurriedly; "she merely changed her 
 statements to make them plainer." 
 
 "But you said she repudiated the early editions 
 of 'Science and Health/ did you not? As I un- 
 derstand it, she repudiated some early letters and 
 pamphlets as not entirely correct, but not any 
 editions of 'Science and Health.' If she merely 
 made the changes in statements to make them 
 more readily understood, then, according to this 
 reasoning, the early statements are still correct, 
 though not as understandable. According to this 
 theory, no one would have the right to say that 
 the early editions were incorrect, would they?" 
 asked Mr. Williams. 
 
 "No, not eaxctly; but if these statements were 
 
THE SICKLE 125 
 
 essential, they would also appear in the present 
 edition," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "That is just the point. They do appear in the 
 present edition, but are so diluted with unneces- 
 sary verbiage that the plainer meaning is lost in 
 the superabundance of words; or through the 
 peculiar use of capitals, just an inkling of the real 
 meaning remains to be discerned." 
 
 "Mr. Williams, I am afraid that you have 
 made a statement which you will find hard to 
 prove. After I arrived at my room, I made a 
 special search through the present edition, to see 
 if I could find any statements which had the same 
 import as the ones I copied from the first edition; 
 and I found none at all." 
 
 "They are there just the same, even if you did 
 not discover them," was Mr. Williams' reply. 
 
 "I have read and studied the present edition 
 for years, and have memorized a great part of it; 
 and I could not recall a single passage with the 
 import that I am God; and am sure there are 
 none." 
 
126 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "If I show you that statements of the same 
 import as the ones you took notes of yesterday, 
 are to be found in the present edition, though 
 veiled, will you be satisfied that Mrs. Eddy's state- 
 ments in the first edition are correct, and still in 
 force ?" 
 
 "Oh yes. If you can show me any thing in the 
 present edition that upholds the statements from 
 the first edition, I will have to admit that you are 
 right, and that I have been wrong." 
 
 "Very well. Here, on page 23 of the first 
 edition of 'Science and Health,' Mrs. Eddy 
 wrote : 'Soul and body are God and man, Prin- 
 ciple and its idea.' The question is, which of 
 these two do you consider yourself to be?" asked 
 Mr. Williams. 
 
 "I claim to be idea," said Mrs. Viloxon; "and 
 all Scientists whom I know state that they are the 
 idea of God." 
 
 "Yes, so I understand. Then according to 
 that, you consider yourself the body of God," re- 
 plied Mr. Williams. 
 
THE SICKLE 127 
 
 "No, I don't think I ever considered myself 
 the body of God, but the idea of God," was the 
 reply. 
 
 "Mrs. Eddy's statement that 'Soul and body are 
 God and man, Principle and its idea,' shows that 
 idea and body are one and the same; so if you 
 are the idea of God then you are the body of 
 God." 
 
 "But I do not like to say it that way/' said 
 Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "I know you don't; and the reason why, is that 
 you don't really know what either statement 
 means. However, let us consider another term. 
 Is your body your identity?" 
 
 "I should think so. At least it would be the 
 form of my identity." 
 
 "Mrs. Eddy says that man is the identity of 
 God, does she not?" 
 
 "Yes, I believe I have read that statement," 
 replied Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "According to this, identity and body would 
 be the same. You admit that your body is your 
 
128 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 identity or form, and so the identity of God would 
 be his form or body. Thus, man would be the 
 body of God, just as Mrs. Eddy says." 
 
 "But Mr. Williams, I don't like the idea of 
 saying that I am the body of God. I am the idea 
 of God." 
 
 "And I am trying to show you that if you are 
 one, you must be the other. Now let us turn to 
 the present or latest edition of 'Science and 
 Health,' and see if we can get any light on the 
 subject. On page 477, line 19, Mrs. Eddy is 
 supposed to have asked the question, 'What are 
 body and Soul?' The answer is: 'Identity is the 
 reflection of Spirit.' I have had hundreds ask 
 me why Mrs. Eddy did not answer the question 
 she asked. The question is answered in the words 
 'Identity is the reflection of Spirit.' The word 
 'identity' was used to mean body, and the word 
 'Spirit' to mean God. If there had been no at- 
 tempt to veil, the writer would have written in 
 answer to the plain question, this plain answer: 
 Body is the reflection of Soul; body is the em- 
 
THE SICKLE 129 
 
 bodiment of Soul. Then there would have been 
 no question about the meaning. Here you see 
 one of the ways in which the original plain state- 
 ments of the first edition have been transformed 
 out of all recognition, though careful reasoning 
 reveals that the statement, 'Soul and body are 
 God and man' means the same as, 'Identity is the 
 reflection of Spirit'. " 
 
 "I can scarcely believe that you are right. Mrs. 
 Eddy would not have intentionally obscured the 
 simple meaning of the first statement, in the man- 
 ner indicated on page 477. " 
 
 "I am making no assertions, " said Mr. Wil- 
 liams. "I am not saying that Mrs. Eddy did it. 
 I am merely pointing out these things as they 
 exist in plain print, and you must form your own 
 conclusions as to who did it." 
 
 "I will need to think deeply on the subject. At 
 any rate, the statement does not say that man is 
 God," remarked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Neither do I say that man is God. I do say 
 that when Mrs. Eddy is understood rightly, she 
 
130 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 teaches that man is body, that is, that the term 
 ( man' means 'body'." 
 
 "Do you know of any place in her writings 
 where she states or implies that man is body, Mr. 
 Williams ?" 
 
 "Yes, on page 22, third edition of 'Science and 
 Health,' is the statement that 'the body of Soul is 
 man/ and she also explains the matter. On page 
 20 of the same edition, she wrote: 'In place of 
 sentient matter, we have sensationless bodies, and 
 God the Soul of the body, and man's existence 
 perpetual in its identification of Deity.' There 
 you have a statement in which Mrs. Eddy says 
 in substance, that the Soul of your body is God; 
 and that the body is man, the identity or identifi- 
 cation of Deity or God." 
 
 "But that statement is from the early editions, 
 and I want something from the present edition," 
 said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Just a moment and I shall satisfy your thought. 
 On page 22, third edition of 'Science and Health,' 
 there is a statement regarding this matter. I have 
 
THE SICKLE 131 
 
 traced this statement through many editions, be- 
 cause it seemed to me to be a basic one. I also 
 wanted to find how the statement read in the pres- 
 ent edition. As given in this third edition it reads : 
 'The science of being reveals man perfect even 
 as the Father is perfect; because the Soul of man 
 is God.' There is more to the statement but I 
 want to call your attention to the fact that even 
 though you regard yourself as man, yet accord- 
 ing to this statement your Soul would be God. 
 Your Soul is your real self as you perhaps know, 
 for when the Soul leaves this plane, you have left, 
 thus showing that the Soul and you, are one and 
 the same." 
 
 u Oh, Mr. Williams, I would like to admit this 
 but I simply cannot. I made the attempt last 
 evening to take the mental position that I was 
 God, and the next instant I was all a tremble with 
 the fear that I might be punished for my pre- 
 sumption." 
 
 u The old ideas of God are not easily gotten 
 rid of. It took much reasoning and study before 
 
132 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 I could take the advanced position and feel that 
 I understood it. Just have patience! I have 
 made it clear to hundreds, and I shall be able to 
 make it clear to you." 
 
 "I am afraid. not," she replied. "I sometimes 
 think that I don't want it to be that way." 
 
 "In other words, you hope that you will find 
 out for a certainty that you are not God," said 
 Mr. Williams. 
 
 "Well, something of that sort." 
 
 "I should think that you would be more vitally 
 interested in actually proving what you are, in- 
 stead of what you are not. However, let us go on 
 with that citation, it continues: 'The Scriptures 
 inform us that 'God is Love' the 'Truth and the 
 Life,' therefore He is Principle and not person, 
 and the body of Soul is man, the idea of this 
 Principle and his conscious Life and intelligence is 
 Soul and not body.' Can you not understand from 
 this that the conscious 'You' is Soul, God; and the 
 unconscious body is man, the idea, reflection or 
 embodiment of the conscious 'You'?" 
 
THE SICKLE 133 
 
 "I see that these statements must mean that, but 
 they are from the earlier editions," said Mrs. 
 Viloxon, much disturbed. 
 
 "Very well, we will now look into the present 
 or latest edition and see what Mrs. Eddy has said 
 on this subject. Here, on page 319, line 18, in 
 the latest edition of 'Science and Health,' Mrs. 
 Eddy wrote: 'Mystery, miracle, sin, and death 
 will disappear when it becomes fairly understood 
 that the divine Mind controls man and man has 
 no Mind but God.' If we take the position that 
 you are Soul or Mind, as I claim, and that your 
 body is man; then the statement means that you, 
 being the Soul, would be God. Taking the posi- 
 tion that you are man, as you claim; then the 
 statement would mean that your Mind is God, for 
 the statement reads that 'man' (which would be 
 you according to your theory) 'has no Mind but 
 God'; thus again, the 'You,' the consciousness 
 (your consciousness), would be God." 
 
 "I cannot believe that the statement means what 
 
134 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 you say; there is some mistake," said Mrs. Vi- 
 loxon. 
 
 u You have been believing too much and too 
 long already. I don't want you to believe a single 
 statement. I want you to think, reason and inves- 
 tigate, and get to that mental rock, understand- 
 ing, which gives you dominion over all ills." 
 
 "I want to understand. I want the Truth. 
 Why were these things hidden from the earnest 
 seeker?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "I have my own opinions regarding the matter, 
 but I never like to state mere opinions. I shall 
 again read that statement from the third edition : 
 'The science of being reveals man perfect even 
 as the father is perfect, because the Soul of man 
 is God.' It does not take much mental wrestling 
 to realize that this statement means that my Soul, 
 the conscious part of me, the real me, is God. 
 Now I shall read from the latest edition: 'The 
 Science of being reveals man as perfect, even as 
 the Father is perfect, because the Soul or Mind 
 of the Spiritual man is God/ Ytfu can s€6 that 
 
THE SICKLE 135 
 
 the statements mean exactly the same, but by using 
 the phrase 'of the spiritual man' the student 
 thinks it does not mean himself, but a spiritual 
 man; and thus he loses the real sense of the state- 
 ment as gleaned from the plainer, simpler state- 
 ment in the earlier edition. The student does not 
 stop to think that Mrs. Eddy teaches that, scien- 
 tifically, there is no mortal man, therefore, the 
 only man there is, is the spiritual man. Correctly 
 understood, the statement, 'the spiritual man/ 
 does not refer to the 'I, 1 or individual conscious- 
 ness, for the T is Spirit, as Mrs. Eddy says, on 
 page 249, line 21, 'Science and Health.' The 
 man referred to in both statements is the body, 
 the embodiment, the spiritual embodiment, the 
 embodiment of Spirit; the embodiment of Mind, 
 the embodiment of the mental element, the em- 
 bodiment of the mentality; your embodiment, your 
 mental embodiment, for there is no material em- 
 bodiment. The body that we call matter, is mat- 
 ter so-called; but in reality, it is the effect of mind, 
 or mentality. Therefore, rightly \lridefsto6d-, it 
 
136 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 is a mental body, instead of a material body; and 
 as mentality is consciousness, then right mentality 
 would be right or true consciousness, and Mrs. 
 Eddy says that all true consciousness is God, or 
 Spirit; therefore, the embodiment of right men- 
 tality would be the embodiment, identity, reflec- 
 tion or body of Spirit, and it would be Spiritual, 
 because the cause of it is Spirit." 
 
 Mr. Williams paused a moment that his visitor 
 might gain the first import of his statement, then 
 he continued: u Remembering that Mrs. Eddy 
 said that man is body, or man means body, we can 
 arrive at the understanding that when she spoke 
 of the spiritual man she was not speaking of the 
 individual consciousness (you), but was speaking 
 of the embodiment of Spirit, or the spiritual em- 
 bodiment, or mental body. There are not two 
 distinct bodies, one material and the other spir- 
 itual; there is only the spiritual or thought body 
 (the body composed of thoughts), the mental or 
 visible manifestation of mentality, though mis- 
 takenly called material. That I am in accord with 
 
THE SICKLE 137 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's thought on the question can be seen 
 from this statement taken from page 26, 'Miscel- 
 laneous Writings/ — 'The only logical conclusion 
 is that all is Mind and its manifestation, from the 
 rolling of worlds, in the most subtle ether, to a 
 potato-patch/ Therefore, rightly understood, a 
 potato-patch is spiritual and not material, as most 
 Scientists teach." 
 
 When Mr. Williams finished speaking, Mrs. 
 Viloxon continued to gaze steadily at him for sev- 
 eral moments, then with some show of excitement, 
 said: "I am confused. I am lost in a maze. 
 You have bewildered me with the depth and 
 rapidity of the enlightenment that you have just 
 given me. I want to remember it all and write it 
 all down, but am afraid I shall not retain a tenth 
 part of what you said. I can but ask again, why 
 did not Mrs. Eddy continue the plainer statements 
 so that all might have understood? Or why do 
 you not put this in plain print so that all honest 
 seekers could gain -the right import of the Christ 
 Science, and arrive at that unshakable founda- 
 
138 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 tion stone, understanding, so necessary to the com- 
 plete harmony of mind and body." 
 
 "I have already done so. It has been in plain 
 print for several years; and the book that contains 
 this plain statement of Life is already scattered 
 from Alaska to Australia." 
 
 "You have written such a book!" ejaculated 
 Mrs. Viloxon, with great surprise. 
 
 "Yes, several years ago," was the quiet reply. 
 
 "I never heard of it. What is the title? Tell 
 me all about it, for I shall surely want one." 
 
 Mr. Williams thought silently a moment, then 
 said: "It is quite a story, but since you ask it I 
 will tell you briefly of the book. From the very 
 beginning, I was very successful in the healing 
 field of Christian Science; and as my various 
 writings were soon in the hands of thousands of 
 students, practitioners and teachers, they recog- 
 nized the fact that I had something which the 
 majority did not have. Soon the letters from 
 thfe field began td arrive asking for help. Stime 
 of these pVti^rftS had received frVatrtffetit from 
 
THE SICKLE 139 
 
 those considered foremost in this work, but their 
 cases not having been reached some came to me. 
 I was successful, and they would return home 
 and tell of it. A little later, I began to receive 
 letters from practitioners; some stated that they 
 had a brother, sister or father who did not re- 
 spond; and asked if I would take the case. As 
 these cases were healed, many practitioners who 
 had not been entirely successful in meeting their 
 own cases applied for healing, and again I was 
 successful. Some of these practitioners had had 
 treatment from their teachers, but not always 
 with successful results. Later, when I healed 
 them, they went to their teachers and told of the 
 healing and who had accomplished it. Thus I got 
 in touch with the students of many teachers and 
 the teachers themselves. " 
 
 "I have several times heard of your success as 
 a practitioner, and wondered how a mistaken and 
 disloyal student could be so successful," said Mrs. 
 Viloxdn. 
 
 Mr. William's smiled and siaid: "After years 
 
140 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 of success, with perhaps a percentage of healing 
 second to none, the friends among the practi- 
 tioners and teachers constantly and persistently 
 urged me to put into plain print my understanding 
 of the Christ Science, and also my method of ap- 
 plication. This call continued until I decided that 
 I would write such a book, setting forth as plainly 
 as possible my method of application, and my 
 understanding of the Christ Science. At length 
 the book was finished, in its manuscript form; but 
 when I thought of putting these plain statements 
 of the facts of Life into print for broadcast dis- 
 tribution, I hesitated, — not because of fear, but 
 because these very enlightening statements would 
 startle and shock the blind believer. I began to 
 ask myself whether the time was ripe for such 
 a book, and held the book from print. Several 
 times the thought of veiling the plainer statements 
 slightly came to mind; but when I looked about 
 me and saw what confusion and turmoil had re- 
 sulted from veiling the plainer statements in the 
 Bible and 'Science and Health,' I decided that 
 
THE SICKLE 141 
 
 veiling the Truth had been proven a mistake, and 
 that if I ever published the book it would carry 
 no veil. Reasoning as to the best method of get- 
 ting this great, unveiled Truth before the people, 
 I thought of writing out a series of booklets, which 
 would lead gradually from the present erring 
 sense of Truth up to the plain statements of 
 Truth as I had them in my book, 'The Sickle'." 
 
 " The Sickle'," said Mrs. Viloxon. "Is that 
 the name of the book in which Truth is stated 
 without any veiling?" 
 
 "Yes, that is the title of the book." 
 
 "I am sure I never heard of it," she said. 
 
 "Perhaps not. The fact of the matter is, the 
 book is not sold in the ordinary way. I have never 
 advertised it broadcast, as it is a book written 
 solely for honest thinkers and I am striving to 
 keep it out of the hands of triflers," said Mr. 
 Williams. 
 
 "But how can you do that?" asked Mrs. Vi- 
 loxon. 
 
 "I have placed several restrictions on the sale 
 
142 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 of the book. At first, I only sold it to those whom 
 I personally knew were ready for the advanced 
 thought. Then, at the request of these 'Sickle' 
 owners and my students, I began to sell the book 
 to those whom the students recommended, and 
 also to those whom the present 'Sickle' owners 
 recommended, as honest seekers." 
 
 "But suppose that I happened to live in a city 
 or village where there were no 'Sickle' owners to 
 recommend me?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Yes, that has occurred several times, and I 
 devised the method that, in cases of this kind, the 
 prospective purchaser must get 'The Plain Talk' 
 booklets first, and read and study them. If they 
 did not get mental indigestion from reading these, 
 they would still desire 'The Sickle' ; whereas, if 
 they could not mentally assimilate the 'Plain 
 Talk' booklets, they would no longer wish to 
 purchase the book. I also instruct all 'Sickle' 
 owners to advise their friends who want the book 
 to first secure 'The Plain Talk' booklets, and 
 read them, and afterwards, 'The Sickle'." 
 
THE SICKLE 143 
 
 "Is it a large book, Mr. Williams?" 
 
 "No, quite small, even smaller than the morocco 
 bound 'Science and Health.' It contains 390 
 pages." As he said this, he reached over to his 
 desk and picked up a little book and said: "This 
 is it." 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon took the book and after looking 
 it over for a moment, said: "Is not that a queer 
 title for a book of this nature?" 
 
 "After you have read the book," he said, "I 
 am sure you will agree with its thousands of read- 
 ers that there could be no other name for it." 
 
 "Well I want one. Can I get it here from 
 you?" 
 
 "Yes, but first I want you to read the balance 
 of the 'Plain Talk' booklets. You say you have 
 read two of them, I will give you the others; and 
 after reading them, if you still think that you want 
 'The Sickle,' I will sell you one." 
 
 "May I ask the price?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "The price is twenty-five dollars per copy." 
 
 "Twenty-five dollars!" she exclaimed in amaze- 
 
144 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 ment. "Did I hear aright? Twenty-five dollars 
 per copy?" 
 
 "Yes, that is right," and Mr. Williams smiled. 
 
 "Why that looks like a get-rich-quick scheme." 
 The lady was plainly sarcastic. 
 
 "Does it? Well the money is the least part of 
 it as far as I am concerned. Had I wanted to 
 make a lot of money from the book, and cared 
 for nothing but the money, I would have put it 
 out in the ordinary way as I do my other books, 
 and at the usual price; and I would have sold 
 hundreds to where I now sell one, and make twice 
 the money," replied Mr. Williams. 
 
 "If it is not the money, you must have some 
 other good reason for asking such a price." 
 
 "Yes, I have several," replied Mr. Williams, 
 then added, "the merely curious will scarcely pay 
 twenty-five dollars for a little book, and so this 
 keeps it out of their hands. I also know that the 
 human mind values cheaply that which it secures 
 cheaply, and that it values highly that which it 
 cannot secure cheaply. Another reason is that 
 
THE SICKLE 145 
 
 scarcely any one would stop at one reading of a 
 book which cost them twenty-five dollars, and so 
 they read it repeatedly. This is what I desire, for 
 eventually, in this way, they come to see the great 
 worth of that which is written in the book." 
 
 "What could be written there that w^ould be 
 of such value ?" 
 
 "Mrs. Viloxon, I have hundreds of letters tell- 
 ing me that the owners of 'The Sickle' would not 
 take a thousand dollars for their copy, if they 
 could not get another," said Mr. Williams. Af- 
 ter a moment he continued: "In families where 
 the husband is away from home much of the time, 
 such as traveling salesmen, it is not uncommon for 
 them to buy two copies; and in some homes there 
 is a copy for each one in the family." 
 
 "You astonish me more and more. Yet I ought 
 soon to get over this state, for I am fast finding 
 out that I was sound asleep as far as real Chris- 
 tian Science is concerned." 
 
 "Yes, you are now waking up to the real facts 
 of Life, to the real understanding of Life; and 
 
146 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 are getting away from the belief of Life or God, 
 which you mistakenly believed was actual Truth, 
 or Christian Science." 
 
 "Does 'The Sickle' explain Soul and body, and 
 Mind and thought ?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 u Yes, I will read you a sample of the work. 
 Here, on page 46, is the question: 'What is 
 man?' After explaining carefully, somewhat af- 
 ter the manner I have been explaining to you, that 
 man is idea, you find these statements: 'Man 
 is God's idea of Himself. Man is Mind's idea 
 of Itself. Man is God's expression of Himself. 
 Man is Life's expression of Itself. God is entity 
 or Being. Man is identity, or that by which 
 Being is identified. Man is the visible effect of 
 the invisible Cause or God.' Do you gather any- 
 thing worth while from these statements?" 
 
 "Oh yes. The last one especially, — 'Man is 
 the visible effect of the invisible Cause or God.' 
 From this I understand that the mental or invis- 
 ible part of me is the Cause or God, and the body 
 
THE SICKLE 147 
 
 is the visible effect or embodiment, named man. 
 Am I right?" 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Williams, u and this brings 
 out Mrs. Eddy's statement in 'Miscellaneous 
 Writings,' page 23 : 'God is both noumena and 
 phenomena,' also that God and man co-exist as 
 Cause and effect." 
 
 "I am beginning to see the light as never be- 
 fore," said Mrs. Viloxon, with enthusiasm. 
 
 "Bearing these thoughts in mind, you can see 
 why your sick thinking makes you sick, and your 
 healthy thinking must make you well; for the body 
 and its conditions are the thought effect following 
 as a sure result of your thinking, or of your men- 
 tal conclusions." 
 
 "Why did I not know this long ago? My, 
 what time I have wasted in petitions to a God 
 that did not exist; and how I have neglected the 
 real power of God, namely, right thinking." 
 
 "It's never too late to begin, and by diligent 
 work we can gain back the time seemingly lost." 
 
148 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "Does 'The Sickle' also explain God in a sim- 
 ple manner?" was her next question. 
 
 "Yes, but in much greater detail; for Mrs. 
 Eddy has correctly written that you have never 
 started right in Christian Science until you know 
 that you are God; therefore the proof that you 
 are God is plentifully shown in the book. While 
 it is highly important to know what is God, and 
 also what man is, the most vital thing to know 
 is, who or what you are." 
 
 "Yes, I am beginning to see the importance of 
 knowing what I am," replied Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "I have devoted a chapter to the subject, 'you'. 
 The summing up of this chapter occurs on page 
 63 of 'The Sickle,' and is as follows: 'The ques- 
 tion of who or what you are is answered as fol- 
 lows: You (your substance) is the primal ele- 
 ment, or elemental Mind, God, Life, Conscious- 
 ness. You (your thought) is the subjective state 
 of Spirit, Mind, God, Life, Consciousness. You 
 (the body of you) is the visible or objective state 
 of Spirit, Mind, God, Life, Consciousness. Thus 
 
THE SICKLE 149 
 
 you see you are composed of, and are, the Holy 
 Trinity for God is all, and there is nothing else.' 
 Does that enlighten you any?" 
 
 "I can only say, wonderful if true. Is this the 
 teaching of Mrs. Eddy?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Yes, as I understand her writings; and it is the 
 teaching of Jesus, Paul, John, and the other dis- 
 ciples." 
 
 "I cannot understand why these plain state-, 
 ments do not appear in our present text-book, Mr. 
 Williams," and her tone was very emphatic. 
 
 "Mrs. Eddy was perhaps wiser than her most 
 ardent students gave her credit for. She wrote 
 that there should be 'milk for babes,' and know- 
 ing that 'Science and Health' was the first Science 
 book handed to the new babes in Christ, it would 
 only seem natural that it should contain the meat 
 of the Word in a diluted or veiled form which 
 we call the milk of the Word." 
 
 "You may be right, but I was told that all that 
 I ever needed was in the text-book." 
 
150 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "Then why did Mrs. Eddy write more than 
 the text-book ?" asked Mr. Williams. 
 
 "I cannot tell," she replied. 
 
 "I am inclined to think that she felt that the 
 real thinker and searcher would not be satisfied 
 with the mere milk, and would therefore seek in 
 her other writings," said Mr. Williams. 
 
 "Then you believe her other writings to be 
 plainer than 'Science and Health'." 
 
 "Yes, I do. That is, plainer than the latest 
 edition but not plainer than the early ones; how- 
 ever, none of her works state Truth as simply and 
 plainly as 'The Sickle,' as is shown by the heaps 
 of letters from Science students who write me 
 this." 
 
 "Would you mind showing me something in 
 Mrs. Eddy's other writings which is plainer than 
 'Science and Health'?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Not at all. On page 183, line 24 of 'Miscel- 
 laneous Writings,' she wrote: 'Asserting a self- 
 hood apart from God, is a denial of man's spir- 
 itual sonship; for it claims another father.' In 
 
THE SICKLE 151 
 
 other words, to believe that there is another self- 
 hood than God is error; or to state it very plainly, 
 to claim that self is not God is a mistake." 
 
 u Oh, I never saw this in that light before," said 
 Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "I only hope you see it clearly now, for it is 
 a vital statement. In the edition of 1907, 'Unity 
 of Good,' page 5, Mrs. Eddy wrote: 'All true 
 consciousness is God.' If this means anything 
 at all, it means that when your consciousness is 
 true, it is God. In other words, when your con- 
 sciousness or mentality is thinking truly, it is 
 God." 
 
 "What a wonderful way you have of reasoning 
 these things," said Mrs. Viloxon. "I have read 
 that statement many times but never saw the real 
 meaning." 
 
 "In Mrs. Eddy's pamphlet, The People's Idea 
 of God,' page 1, she wrote: 'Even the pangs of 
 death disappear, accordingly as the understand- 
 ing that we are spiritual beings here reappears'. 
 In other words, we can overcome the belief of 
 
152 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 death if we rightly understand that we are Spirit, 
 here and now." 
 
 "I do not get anything like that out of the state- 
 ment, Mr. Williams. She says 'spiritual beings,' 
 and not Spirit." 
 
 "If there was such a thing as a material being 
 would it not be composed of matter?" asked Mr. 
 Williams. 
 
 "Yes, certainly," she replied. 
 
 "Then why would not a spiritual being be 
 Spirit?" 
 
 "Oh!" was all the reply that Mrs. Viloxon 
 made. 
 
 Mr. Williams continued: "In that same pam- 
 phlet, page 12, there is something worth while in 
 regard to healing. This is the statement: Tew 
 there be who know what a power mind is to heal 
 when imbued with the spiritual truth'. The word 
 mind is not capitalized, and this shows you that 
 it is your own mind which is meant; and the only 
 thing necessary is that you think truly, or in con- 
 formity with the facts of Life. In one of the older 
 
THE SICKLE 153 
 
 editions, Mrs. Eddy said in substance that the fact 
 of being whispered into the ear (attentive con- 
 sciousness) of the patient is what heals him; 
 meaning, that to silently tell the patient the actual 
 facts concerning his case is what liberates him 
 from his false beliefs. The work can be done 
 orally, as well or even better than silently, if the 
 healer actually understands Life." 
 
 "Mr. Williams, are all Scientists who come to 
 you as confused and dense as I have been?" asked 
 Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Have you met any Scientists who could make 
 plain these things to you?" he asked. 
 
 "No, I have not," she replied. 
 
 "Then you may draw your own conclusions. 
 But that is not the point. All will understand in 
 due time. Here is a statement in 'Christian Heal- 
 ing,' another pamphlet of Mrs. Eddy's, that is 
 very enlightening. It is on page 6, and reads: 
 'But the fact remains in metaphysics, that the mind 
 of the individual only can produce a result upon 
 his body'. This statement is very positive, and 
 
154 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 it means that nothing but your own mind can pro- 
 duce a result upon your own body. This even shuts 
 out the idea that this outside divine Mind, or any 
 other outside God, can produce the healing of your 
 body. Nothing at all but your own mind can pro- 
 duce bodily results for you, either good or bad, 
 according to this last statement I have read." 
 
 "I am silenced. I have nothing more to say. 
 It surely has been a case of the blind leading the 
 blind," sadly, said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "We will now consider one more statement in 
 'Christian Healing,' and then we will stop for 
 the day. The statement appears on page 10, and 
 is as follows: 'If you wish to be happy, argue 
 with yourself on the side of happiness; take the 
 side you wish to carry, and be careful not to talk 
 on both sides, or to argue stronger for sorrow 
 than for joy. You are the attorney for the case, 
 and will win or lose according to your plea.' This 
 statement pertains to the treatment of all manner 
 of ills. If you wish to be well argue with your- 
 self on the side of health. There is no outside 
 
THE SICKLE 155 
 
 God or power to consult at all. 'Take the side 
 you wish to carry/ and insist on that side. Now 
 notice, 'You are the attorney for the case and will 
 win or lose according to your plea.' The word 
 'plea' means, 'debate or argument or that which 
 is alleged as fact.' Thus you can see that an 
 outside power or God has nothing to do with 
 the matter at all. The work is all done within 
 the individual's own mind in self-healing, and 
 consists in convincing himself of the fact that 
 the good or perfect is the real, and the other side 
 is nothing. You win the case, not because of 
 any foreign power or Cause, or through conces- 
 sion from an outside source, but you win or lose 
 according to whether your reasoning convinces 
 you of the truth that the perfect and good is the 
 fact, and the imperfect and evil, the fable. This 
 verifies the statement of Jesus, that the 'Kingdom 
 is within,' — within your own mind and thought. 
 And when you work out these problems of Life, 
 you are doing the bidding of the Bible, namely, 
 'Work out your own salvation' ; and I might add, 
 
156 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 that it will not be worked out permanently, until 
 you do it yourself." 
 
 "Mr. Williams, I came today, not just to scoff 
 perhaps, but something like it. I stayed to pray 
 (reason), and now I am going home to rejoice." 
 
 "Don't forget to read the 'Plain Talk' book- 
 lets tonight," was the parting admonition of Mr. 
 Williams. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 CLASS TEACHING 
 
 "You will please pardon me for having kept 
 you waiting a few moments, Mrs. Viloxon. I am 
 usually prompt, but this was unavoidable." So 
 said Mr. Williams to his visitor, as he entered his 
 private office the next day. 
 
 "No apology necessary, Mr. Williams. I am 
 very happy to see you at all. If you have not fin- 
 ished please do so, I shall gladly wait." 
 
 "Yes, I have finished. I was awaiting your 
 appointed time, but just a few minutes before you 
 came, I had an unexpected visitor. A practi- 
 tioner, going from the east to visit friends in Cal- 
 ifornia, thought she would stop off and have a 
 few hours chat with me. I had to take the time 
 to explain to the lady that all my time is fully 
 spoken for, and that I do not see any one but 
 my students, except by appointment." 
 
 "My, what a privilege your students have." 
 157 
 
158 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "My students understand the work I have to 
 do, and not one of them ever intrudes to take 
 up my time unnecessarily; but all know that they 
 can come at any time for necessary advice." 
 
 "Then I can come to you for advice ?" asked 
 Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Yes, after you have taken the teacher's class 
 course/' was his reply. 
 
 "Is not that what you are now giving me?" she 
 asked. 
 
 Mr. Williams smiled as he said : "No. This is 
 neither class instruction, nor the private teacher's 
 course. These are merely simple, disconnected 
 talks. The course is a distinct and fully connected 
 teaching, taking up all points on metaphysical 
 healing. We have merely been discussing vari- 
 ous mooted points, that is all." 
 
 "And I thought all the time I was getting your 
 private teacher's course. Why, I have already 
 had ten times the enlightenment that I received 
 from my former class teaching," said Mrs. Vi- 
 loxon with decision. 
 
CLASS TEACHING 159 
 
 "Then you received more out of your class 
 instructions than hundreds of others who have 
 told me of their experience. Most of them tell 
 me that they got nothing tangible. " 
 
 "Neither did I. So I do not see why you say 
 I received more than the others." 
 
 "You said you had received ten times as much 
 from these informal talks as you did from your 
 class. Well, ten times nothing would still be noth- 
 ing; therefore, you either received something 
 from your former class or nothing from these 
 talks." 
 
 "I see what you mean," laughingly replied Mrs. 
 Viloxon; "but you know what I meant." 
 
 "Yes, I know. But please do not think that 
 these talks are class instructions. There is no 
 contention or controversy in my classes. I would 
 not attempt to give you the teacher's course while 
 you were in the same frame of mind as when you 
 first came. Under such conditions, most of the 
 teaching would have been lost, because you 
 doubted me and my understanding; and therefore, 
 
160 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 you would not have gotten value received for 
 your tuition money. I have been striving to con- 
 vince you that I do understand Metaphysics and 
 Mrs. Eddy's writings, correctly; and perhaps at 
 some later day you will come to one of my 
 classes." 
 
 "But I am now fully convinced, Mr. Williams; 
 and will gladly make arrangements to take pri- 
 vate instructions at once if you have no class 
 planned for the near future." 
 
 "It is some time since I gave the teacher's 
 course, privately. The call has so enlarged for 
 the teacher's class course, that I do not teach any 
 primary classes, and cannot find the time to teach 
 any one, privately. My students are capable of 
 giving the beginners the primary class, and fit 
 them for self healing; and so I am devoting all my 
 time to writing, and to the teacher's class course." 
 
 "When will you have your next class?" asked 
 Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "As yet, I have no stated time for classes. I 
 shall be pleased to place your name on my list, 
 
CLASS TEACHING 161 
 
 and then you will be notified, when and where the 
 next class will be held; and if you are ready, I 
 shall be glad to teach you." 
 
 "If I am ready? Why I am ready now, or at 
 any time," she replied. 
 
 "You may think you are ready, but first I should 
 want you to study the 'Plain Talk' booklets, and 
 put a few months study on 'The Sickle'. Then 
 your thought would be receptive to the new and 
 true viewpoint of the Christ Science. ,, 
 
 "Oh, I see. It is not a question with you, of 
 seeing how many you can get to go through class. 
 You want them to be ready mentally so that they 
 will be a credit to you afterwards." 
 
 "Yes, that is it. There are already plenty of 
 believers in Science. I am striving to make a few 
 understanders." 
 
 "That is also the reason why I allow my stu- 
 dents to go through class a second and third time, 
 free of charge. I merely reserve the right to say 
 which of the students be allowed to go through 
 the second and third time, and when." 
 
162 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "I should think that all would wish to go 
 through as often as possible, for there is so much 
 to learn/' said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "My students must prove by clean living that 
 they are entitled to further enlightenment from 
 me, that is all." 
 
 "Oh, I see," she answered, with a knowing 
 look. "You mentioned the Tlain Talk' booklets, 
 — do you know that I did not retire until two 
 o'clock this morning? I simply could not let go 
 of them; they are wonderful, and words fail me 
 when I attempt to express my gratitude for them." 
 
 "They are wonderful to you, perhaps, but sim- 
 ply natural and common sense to me. If you 
 enjoyed the booklets so extremely, then you have 
 a greater treat in store for you in 'The Sickle'." 
 
 "Mr. Williams, when you told me the price of 
 the book was twenty-five dollars, I really thought 
 it outrageous; but I want to tell you plainly that 
 I would not give up those little Tlain Talk' book- 
 lets for twenty-five dollars if I could not get more 
 
CLASS TEACHING 163 
 
 of them; and I want a copy of 'The Sickle' as soon 
 as you will sell it to me." 
 
 "If the booklets did not cause you any serious 
 mental disturbance, then I guess you are ready 
 for stronger meat, and I shall be glad to sell you 
 'The Sickle'. It is not my desire to keep it away 
 from any one, but because of the nature of the 
 book, I want it only in the hands of those whose 
 thought has arisen to the Christ viewpoint. Oth- 
 erwise, what the book contains would be of no 
 especial benefit to the reader, and I do not want 
 the people to pay twenty-five dollars for the book, 
 and not get their money's worth in return." 
 
 "I am beginning to understand you better," said 
 Mrs. Viloxon. "But really, from the human 
 standpoint, the price of the book makes it look 
 like a money making scheme." 
 
 "It is not impossible that some individuals are 
 honest at heart, and have an honest motive back 
 of what they do. I never cared for public opin- 
 ion. My mentor is my own conscience. If that 
 
164 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 tells me that a thing is right, I ask no questions 
 but act out my highest thought." 
 
 "But you have been so terribly misjudged by 
 your brother and sister Scientists. Why, I heard 
 all manner of reports about you." 
 
 "Oh well, I can but say with my Leader, Mrs. 
 Eddy: 'If mortal mind knew better it would do 
 better'. Jesus was misjudged, so was Paul and 
 the other disciples. So was Mrs. Eddy, in the 
 beginning. Then how could I, or any other pio- 
 neer in this field of healing and saving, expect 
 to wholly escape. Early in the work, when I 
 was but a mental infant, it truly hurt; but on 
 one occasion when speaking to a friend in Boston 
 about the matter, this friend said: 'You ought 
 to rejoice that others are throwing stones at you, 
 for it is positive proof that you are in advance 
 of them; for human beings do not stone those 
 who are behind or beneath them, but always the 
 ones who are in front and above.' This explained 
 the whole matter as far as I was concerned, and 
 
CLASS TEACHING 165 
 
 I never again gave any serious attention to the 
 stoning. " 
 
 "I wish that I had your sense of certainty, your 
 surety, your self-confidence, your patience; instead 
 of the faltering, halting, doubting mentality that 
 I have," said Mrs. Viloxon, with feeling. 
 
 "There is only one way to get it, and that is 
 through understanding Life, God, as He or It 
 really is. Now let us continue our talk of yes- 
 terday. Was there anything further that you 
 would like to ask regarding self-healing?" 
 
 u Yes, indeed. I would like to have you out- 
 line just what treatment to give myself, to get rid 
 of my ills." 
 
 "I have not the time to enter into detailed heal- 
 ing work. The methods of applying right thought 
 to the overcoming of various ills, properly be- 
 longs in the class room; and in my classes I teach 
 this, but can only talk on general lines in informal 
 talks of this kind. I showed you plainly Mrs. 
 Eddy's general method of procedure, when I 
 pointed out to you that you were the attorney for 
 
166 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 your case; that you win or lose according to your 
 plea. You must reason with yourself (not with 
 an outside God), and always strive to gain the 
 point of mental conviction, that you are perfect 
 now, and always were, it matters not what the ill 
 may be." 
 
 "Yes, that statement is wonderfully enlighten- 
 ing, and proved to me that Mrs. Eddy does teach 
 that we can heal ourselves through the exercise 
 of our own right thought, but I wanted the spe- 
 cific right thought with which to handle my pres- 
 ent ill." 
 
 "Enlightenment, or even the knowing of the 
 right thought is but half the work, and the lesser 
 half. The healing follows as a consequent of 
 persistent mental application of the right thought 
 until the point is reached where the wrong thought 
 is forced out of consciousness through a convic- 
 tion in the right. It is at this point in the work 
 that so many fail. Many gain the right idea of 
 the work, and see what they ought to do; but 
 spend most of each day in continuing the wrong 
 
CLASS TEACHING 167 
 
 thought or doing nothing in the right direction. 
 Later, they wonder why they are not healed. I 
 want to impress upon you that self-healing is an 
 individual problem, with no power but your own 
 mentality to consider; for it is the individual's 
 sick thought that will keep him constantly sick, 
 or on the other hand, his right or healthy thought 
 that will heal and keep him constantly healthy. 
 If there is no right thought activity being pro- 
 duced by the individual when trying to heal self, 
 there is no healing force at work in that case." 
 
 "Yes, I am beginning to see that," Mr. Wil- 
 liams; "and my heart bleeds for the hundreds 
 who have been misguided as I was, and who are 
 waiting, waiting, for something that they call 
 divine Love to have compassion on them and heal 
 them." 
 
 "Yes, they have a long wait before them. Mrs. 
 Eddy positively tells them that the 'rule is estab- 
 lished/ and that we have only to avail ourselves 
 of the rule. This means that the facts of mental 
 healing have been established, namely, that our 
 
168 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 sick thoughts are responsible for our sickness, 
 and our healthy thoughts are responsible for our 
 health and success; and it is our work to avail 
 ourselves of this fact or rule of Mind, and apply 
 it." 
 
 "You could not say it plainer. It must be so. 
 Now would you mind giving me a little enlighten- 
 ment in regard to the healing of others by a prac- 
 titioner?" 
 
 "I shall be pleased to do so," said Mr. Wil- 
 liams. u But before we leave this subject of self- 
 healing, I wish to call your attention to one more 
 statement of Mrs. Eddy's in 'Miscellaneous 
 Writings/ page 219. Here she wrote:\'that a 
 state of health is but a state of consciousness made 
 manifest on the body, and vice versa.' In other 
 words, health is a mental state, and so is sickness; 
 and therefore, to heal one's self we have but to 
 change our mental states from sickness to health, 
 and keep them changed, and the body will change 
 to correspond. It is not a mystery at all, but just 
 a mental work taken up by the individual himself 
 
CLASS TEACHING 169 
 
 to change his present erring sense of sickness to 
 the right sense that he is naturally well, which is 
 the fact of Life or Being." 
 
 "Yes, yes! How simple and plain it is when it 
 is pointed out. How blind I have been!" ex- 
 claimed Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "In trying to discover how the healing of an- 
 other is accomplished, we need but to continue 
 the same article on page 219 of 'Miscellaneous 
 Writings'. It reads: 'That while one person 
 feels wickedly and acts wickedly, another knows 
 that if he can change this evil sense and con- 
 sciousness to a good sense, or conscious good- 
 ness, the fruits of goodness will follow.' It is 
 just the same with sickness, when the patient says 
 he feels sick, or that he has a sense of sickness. 
 It is the practitioner's work to change this sense 
 of sickness to a sense of health; either through 
 oral talk, by explaining the facts of Life to the 
 point where the patient can see the facts of the 
 matter, and thus induce him to let go of his err- 
 ing belief and so gain a change of sense from 
 
170 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 sickness to health; or through silent corrective 
 thought, applied direct to the consciousness of 
 the patient, to produce a conviction of health." 
 
 "According to that, there is no mystery con- 
 nected with it at all. Just plain common sense!" 
 said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Plain common sense, based upon the facts of 
 Life, God; and the repeated application of this 
 common sense to the nonsense of the patient, until 
 the point is reached where the patient renounces 
 his nonsense and accepts the common sense (right 
 sense). The common sense (right sense) is always 
 that the good and perfect is the real, and all of 
 Life." 
 
 "I am astounded at my own density in the past. 
 To think of the worry, the doubt, the useless 
 effort of pleading and patiently waiting for some 
 outside power to heal my patients. Mr. Wil- 
 liams, I am really disgusted with myself." 
 
 "It is not all your fault. It was and is a case 
 of the blind leading the blind, which could be 
 the only outcome of a veiled or blinded teaching. 
 
CLASS TEACHING 171 
 
 When you again take up mental healing, don't 
 wait upon an outside power. Get to work, and 
 mentally enlighten your patient, for Mrs. Eddy 
 says, 'Science and Health,' page 12, line 23: 
 'help should come from the enlightened under- 
 standing,' and not from an outside power as you 
 believed. If your case is not responding prop- 
 erly, use your common sense and inquire into the 
 peculiarities of the patient's belief, and then ad- 
 minister repeated and bountiful doses of com- 
 mon sense from the standpoint that the good and 
 perfect is all; and as you succeed in having your 
 patient see these facts of Life, he will recover." 
 
 "Would you advise any particular length of 
 treatment?" 
 
 u On page 220, 'Miscellaneous Writings,' Mrs. 
 Eddy tells you the proper length of treatments. 
 In speaking of the practitioner she says : 'He per- 
 sists in this course until the patient's mind yields, 
 and the harmonious thought has full control over 
 this mind on the point at issue.' " 
 
 "Why then, these ten or fifteen minute treat- 
 
172 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 ments, as now practiced, are not at all in accord 
 with her advice, " said Mrs. Viloxon. "I can now 
 see that my ten minutes of corrective thought to 
 combat the all day long wrong thought of the 
 average patient, amounted almost to a farce. " 
 
 "Now don't be too severe or condemn your- 
 self unnecessarily. You have not been taught dif- 
 ferently. It is not the practitioners whom I blame. 
 Many give several fifteen minute treatments, and 
 only get paid for one. It is the system that is 
 at fault, and this false system was brought about 
 by the belief that if the practitioner would treat 
 a few minutes then a mysterious God would do 
 the rest," said Mr. Williams kindly. 
 
 "Yes, I can see the error. It just occurs to 
 my thought that if all this is correct, and I believe 
 it is, then, in reality, it is the practitioner who 
 heals and not God." 
 
 "I can do no better than to again refer you to 
 that same article on 'Mental Practice,' page 220, 
 'Miscellaneous Writings,' which says: 'This men- 
 tal practitioner has changed his patient's conscious- 
 
CLASS TEACHING 173 
 
 ness from sickness to health. The patient's men- 
 tal state is now the diametrical opposite of what 
 it was when the mental practitioner undertook to 
 transform it, and he is improved morally and 
 physically'." 
 
 The enlightenment that was beaming on the 
 face of Mrs. Viloxon was good to behold, as she 
 said: "Then, according to Mrs. Eddy's state- 
 ment, it is the practitioner himself who does the 
 healing, and not divine Love or other outside 
 power; and it is all mental too. Still, nearly all 
 Christian Scientists oppose and get angry, if you 
 advance the thought to them that Christian Sci- 
 ence is mental science. In fact, I have many 
 times rebuked others for saying that Christian 
 Science was mental science. What fools we have 
 been! No wonder that Scientists have been called 
 a peculiar people." 
 
 "Well, well, we are coming along rapidly. Let 
 us not get excited. People who live in glass houses 
 ought not to throw stones," were the soothing 
 words of Mr. Williams. 
 
174 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 At once his visitor relaxed, and said: "You 
 are right. But to think that I have been mentally 
 bound these past twenty-seven years, and so 
 blinded that I thought the other fellow was in 
 error, makes me feel deeply." 
 
 "If you had used your reason, you would have 
 escaped all this. In your text-book, page 410, is 
 a sub-title in very plain print which reads: 'Men- 
 tal treatment illustrated.' That, alone, ought to 
 have caused you to think." 
 
 "Yes, I remember it and have read it hundreds 
 of times. "Of course, mental treatment illustrated 
 would be the illustration of a mental treatment; 
 and a mental treatment would necessarily be the 
 application of a mental Science. I am fast com- 
 ing to believe that I don't know how to think at 
 all," said Mrs. Viloxon, with disgust. 
 
 "It's not as bad as that. You just gave a good 
 exhibition of thinking when you analyzed the mat- 
 ter," replied Mr. Williams. 
 
 "I wonder how much more nonsense I have 
 
CLASS TEACHING 175 
 
 stored away in my mentality, which I considered 
 actual understanding?" she asked. 
 
 "If you are like the rest, you still have plenty 
 more." This was said with a quiet laugh. 
 
 "Well, I want to be rid of it, and at once," 
 said Mrs. Viloxon, with vim. 
 
 "Easier said than done. The mental errors 
 which one has cherished as priceless possessions 
 for a quarter century, are not so easily disposed 
 of, for the mentality holds tenaciously to the 
 things once considered priceless. Before I for- 
 get it, I wish to call your attention to something 
 that you said, because it may leave a false im- 
 pression in your thought. You stated that it was 
 the practitioner who did the healing, and this is 
 correct; but you added, 'and not God,' this is incor- 
 rect.' ' 
 
 "I don't quite understand you, Mr. Williams." 
 
 "No, for if you did, you would not have made 
 that remark. You know, the other day, we agreed 
 that Soul is God; and that the body is man; and 
 that Soul is Mind or consciousness. Now, it was 
 
176 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 not the body of the practitioner which was capa- 
 ble of changing the mentality of the patient; but 
 it was his mentality or Soul which did the work, 
 through right thought. From this you can see 
 that while it was the practitioner who did the 
 healing, the practitioner, when correctly viewed, 
 is a Soul-being or God-being, or a being of God; 
 and therefore, in reality, it was God that did the 
 healing. You will remember that Mrs. Eddy 
 said: 'I healed/ and still she often makes the state- 
 ment that 'God is the only healer'. This leaves 
 us but one solution, namely, that the I of me is 
 the God that heals. In other words, it is the 
 conscious part, or Soul part, of the practitioner 
 that heals his patient; but the Soul of the prac- 
 titioner is the real self, and is God; therefore, it 
 is right to say that God, Mind, is the only healer." 
 
 "You cannot know how thankful I am to you, 
 Mr. Williams, for these explanations, for it would 
 have taken years for me to sift them out so 
 clearly." 
 
 "Once you have gained the real foundation of 
 
CLASS TEACHING 177 
 
 Life, all the other questions are easily reasoned 
 out. /You will remember in the future, that when 
 a patient comes to you with an ailment, that the 
 bodily effect is but the externalized picture of 
 some wrong mental sense held in his mentality; 
 and that the healing work is not in striving to 
 correct the bodily defect, but in striving to have 
 the patient let go of the wrong sense he is hold- 
 ing in mind, which is the cause of the ill picture 
 shown on his body. When you have accomplished 
 a change of sense in the patient from illness to 
 health, thereafter a new and better picture will be 
 exhibited on his body." 
 
 "I see it very clearly now," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 "But I am so afraid that I will quickly fall back 
 into the old habits of thought. What can I do 
 to prevent this?" 
 
 "Through observation of the mental struggles 
 of my students who formerly spent much time on 
 'Science and Health,' I have found that those 
 who, for a time, stop all reading of the present 
 literature, and place their entire time on the study 
 
178 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 of the 'Plain Talk' series, 'The Unknown God/ 
 and 'The Sickle,' unfold to the new idea quickly; 
 but those who still cling to the reading of the lit- 
 erature which blinded them in the first place, are 
 constantly slipping back to the old mental posi- 
 tions, and consequently have a harder time to 
 succeed," replied Mr. Williams. 
 
 "I am a little surprised to hear anything of 
 this kind from you," said Mrs. Viloxon. "It 
 smacks of authorized literature advice, which 
 kept me from investigating for myself for so long 
 a time." 
 
 Mr. Williams answered: "It is easy to be mis- 
 understood. I did not forbid you to read any- 
 thing. I did not threaten to excommunicate you 
 as disloyal if you read something else. I merely 
 gave you the advice that actual experience and 
 observation has shown me to be best, in answer 
 to your question. I said, stop reading the present 
 literature for a time, not forever. Stop the other 
 until you have gained the new viewpoint and the 
 new foundation. Then, you can read anything 
 
CLASS TEACHING 179 
 
 on the face of the earth, and it will not again 
 cause you to err." 
 
 "I see the difference. I might have known that 
 you had a good reason for so advising me, and I 
 shall follow the advice given. I would like to 
 ask one more question, Mr. Williams. I have 
 often wondered just what Mrs. Eddy meant by 
 'The Science of Being,' and also if that statement 
 means the same as the statement, 'the science of 
 physical harmony,' found on page 7 of 'Unity of 
 Good'?" 
 
 u The science of Being, is the science of Life — 
 the facts concerning Life or God. The science 
 of physical harmony is the scientific application of 
 the facts of Life, as far as we know them, to the 
 production and maintenance of so-called physical 
 harmony. The science of Being deals with the 
 bare facts, or Truth of Life, and the mental laws 
 connected therewith. Much is yet to be unfolded 
 in the science of Being; while in the science of so- 
 called physical harmony (the application of right 
 thought and feeling), Mrs. Eddy has given us 
 
180 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 quite a comprehensive and complete science of 
 healing which she called the science of physical 
 harmony. True, it is somewhat veiled in later 
 editions, but in the early writings it was plainly 
 stated." 
 
 "Then the science of Being is deeper than the 
 science of physical harmony ?" said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Infinitely deeper! It means to know God or 
 all reality; while the other means, merely to know 
 how to produce physical and mental harmony, 
 through a right thought process. " 
 
 "I think I understand the difference now, and 
 does your class work take up the subject of the 
 science of Being?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Yes, some of it. The subject is infinite, like 
 God. Mrs. Viloxon," said Mr. Williams, as he 
 looked at his watch, "the time allotted for today 
 has passed. I will give you another talk tomor- 
 row, and then you can take your 'Sickle' home and 
 begin to prepare for the class." 
 
 "Oh, dear me! Only one more talk! and I have 
 so many questions that I want to ask," she replied. 
 
CLASS TEACHING 181 
 
 "Take the time tonight, to jot down on paper 
 the questions you feel are of the most impor- 
 tance, and ask them tomorrow." 
 
 "Yes, that will be a good plan," replied Mrs. 
 Viloxon as she prepared to leave. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 M. D. M. A. M. K. C. 
 
 "Well, how about the questions ?" asked Mr. 
 Williams as he seated himself at his desk, on the 
 day of Mrs. Viloxon's final visit. "Did you make 
 a list of them?" 
 
 "Yes, I jotted down a few that I wanted to be 
 sure not to forget," was her reply. 
 
 "We might as well begin with them, and have 
 it over with," said Mr. Williams. 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon looked at her list, and then look- 
 ing up suddenly she said: "Mr. Williams, what 
 do you think about M. D.?" 
 
 Mr. Williams turned a smiling face to his vis- 
 itor as he said: "I have many staunch friends 
 among the MDs. so I cannot help but think 
 that most of them are all right." 
 
 "No. No. You misunderstand me. I did not 
 mean the medical doctors. I meant M. D. — men- 
 tal diabolism." 
 
 182 
 
MD. M.A. M. R.C. 183 
 
 "Oh! Oh, pardon me!" said Mr. Williams, but 
 the smile that his visitor saw told her that he was 
 jesting with her, and that he had understood her 
 rightly. 
 
 "I am really in earnest, Mr. Williams, for this 
 question has caused me untold mental work. 
 What do you think of M. D.?" again asked Mrs. 
 Viloxon. 
 
 "Nothing," nonchalantly, replied Mr. Williams. 
 
 "Nothing!" ejaculated Mrs. Viloxon, with 
 great surprise. 
 
 "Just that and nothing more," was the quiet 
 reply; then he added: "Why, you cannot even find 
 the phrase 'mental diabolism' in your latest edi- 
 tion of 'Science and Health'." 
 
 "You cannot? Are you sure?" she asked. 
 
 "Yes, very sure. I have looked carefully, and 
 did not find it," replied Mr. Williams. 
 
 "But we are told to protect ourselves from it 
 every day." 
 
 "Yes, so I have heard it said. But I haven't 
 time to waste on nothing, so I don't do it and have 
 
184 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 not done it for years; and I am still here, hale and 
 hearty, to tell the tale." Mr. Williams glanced 
 at his visitor to note the effect of his words, and 
 he saw consternation and fear written on her face. 
 
 "You don't protect yourself daily from M. 
 D.?" cried Mrs. Viloxon, with genuine alarm and 
 surprise. 
 
 "No, for I cannot see any sense in doing so," 
 was the quiet reply. 
 
 "Well, I can't agree with you. While I don't 
 just fear it, yet I feel safer when I daily protect 
 myself from it." 
 
 "Your actions belie your words. If you had 
 no fear of it, you would not feel the need of daily 
 protection from it." 
 
 "Don't you believe in it at all?" asked Mrs. 
 Viloxon. 
 
 "No," was the decided answer. 
 
 "But why don't you believe in it? Practically 
 all the Scientists whom I know believe in it. Why, 
 my teacher devoted almost two whole days of 
 class to the subject." 
 
. MD. M.A.M. R.C. 185 
 
 "He did? That surprises me!" said Mr. Wil- 
 liams; then asked: "Was your teacher a so-called 
 loyal teacher, and did he follow the directions 
 given in the Manual?" 
 
 "Oh, yes. He was very careful in following 
 these directions and warned us all to be equally 
 careful to live up to the Manual." 
 
 "That is peculiar. I wonder if he ever read the 
 Manual carefully?" asked Mr. Williams, with 
 an assumed seriousness in his voice. 
 
 "Oh, yes, he knew the Manual from beginning 
 to end," she replied. 
 
 "And still he spent two days of class in teach- 
 ing or expounding M. D. Under article 27 in 
 the Manual we find this: 'The teachers of the 
 Primary class shall instruct their pupils from the 
 said chapter on 'Recapitulation' only.' There is 
 no mention of M. D. in this chapter, therefore 
 those teachers who teach anything not found in 
 that chapter, violate the Manual and are disloyal 
 to Mrs. Eddy's instruction." 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon looked long and steadily at Mr. 
 
186 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 Williams, then said: "Where will this thing end? 
 You are continually showing and proving to me 
 that the whole movement is nothing but misun- 
 derstanding, make-believe and mockery, and I 
 am dumbfounded at my stupidity. But why don't 
 you believe in M. D. ?" 
 
 "Oh, I guess I know too much," said Mr. Wil- 
 liams with a laugh. 
 
 "Won't you give me your views ?" she pleaded. 
 
 "Yes. Mental diabolism, personified into the 
 words M. D., is a straw devil that Scientists set 
 up daily with their left hand, and then spend the 
 rest of the day in working to destroy it with their 
 right hand," 
 
 "What can you mean by straw devil?" asked 
 Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Oh, a mere scarecrow, — a worn out suit of 
 clothes stuffed with straw to resemble a hideous 
 misshapen man." It was noticeable that Mr. 
 Williams had hard work to control his laughter 
 as he saw the look of astonishment and fear on 
 his visitor's face. 
 
MD. M.A.M. R.C. 187 
 
 "Oh, I wish I was that way," at length she re- 
 plied, as she noted the fearless, laughing face be- 
 fore her. 
 
 "Very well. I shall try to destroy this straw 
 devil for you, so that you will never see him again. 
 Do you believe in fortune telling, palm reading, 
 enchantments and conjugations?" asked Mr. 
 Williams. 
 
 "No, certainly not. No real Christian Scien- 
 tist believes in that stuff." 
 
 "Do you believe in necromancy?" asked the 
 teacher. 
 
 "No, not at all," was the firm reply. 
 
 "Webster defines 'necromancy' as meaning, 'en- 
 chantments, conjurgations and fortune telling'. 
 Mrs. Eddy, in one of her messages to the Mother 
 church, when speaking of necromancy, says : 
 'necromancy, or diabolism.' This shows that 
 Mrs. Eddy considered the words to be synony- 
 mous. On page 334, line 6, 'Miscellaneous Writ- 
 ings,' she wrote: 'Necromancy has no founda- 
 tion, — in fact, no Intelligence; and the belief that 
 
188 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 it has, deceives itself.' If necromancy has no foun- 
 dation, it is nothing." 
 
 "Oh, I know it is nothing, but we must guard 
 ourselves from it," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "What an absurd statement that is. How 
 could you guard yourself from nothing ?" asked 
 Mr. Williams. 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon slowly settled back in her chair 
 but made no reply. It was plain to be seen that 
 she was absolutely confused. After a few mo- 
 ments, Mr. Williams said: "That is why, when 
 you asked me what I thought of mental diabol- 
 ism, I answered : 'nothing' ; for that is all it is, 
 and I have no time to waste in daily fighting that 
 which I know to be nothing." 
 
 "But I don't understand, yet. I cannot see why 
 we were all instructed to guard ourselves daily 
 from mental diabolism if there is no reason for 
 it." 
 
 "It is another case of the blind leading the 
 blind," said Mr. Williams. "Mrs. Eddy did not 
 
MD. M.A. M. R.C. 189 
 
 tell you to do this. Her instructions regarding 
 daily mental work are just the reverse." 
 
 u Please explain." 
 
 u Mrs. Eddy instructed her followers to daily 
 keep their minds so full of Truth and Love that 
 nothing else could enter in, and not to daily fight 
 a thing which does not exist. The fact of the 
 matter is, that if you follow her advice and keep 
 your mind filled with Truth and Love (true and 
 loving thought), there won't be any room in your 
 mentality for the erroneous belief in M. D." 
 
 u Mr. Williams, will I ever gain the mental 
 freedom and peace of mind that I see you have?" 
 asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Yes. But not as long as you keep manufac- 
 turing devils out of nothing to fight daily, and thus 
 keep you in constant fear and discord." 
 
 "I want to be fearless. I want to be free. I 
 am just beginning to realize what a bundle of fear 
 I am. No wonder I am constantly in a nervous 
 tremble," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Anyone would be who carried a half dozen 
 
190 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 devils around with him all the time, and fought 
 these imaginary devils all day long as though they 
 were real. That is enough to make a nervous 
 wreck of anyone." 
 
 "If I could only be sure that you are right, 
 what a weight of fear it would lift from my 
 mind." 
 
 "Why not appeal to your reason?" asked Mr. 
 Williams. "You protect yourself daily by fight- 
 ing these imaginary devils, and you are sick. I 
 never bother about these nonsensical beliefs and 
 so they never bother me, and consequently I am 
 harmonious and well. Is not that proof worth 
 considering?" 
 
 "Yes, yes. But I was taught so differently. 
 Does Mrs. Eddy say anything further on diabol- 
 ism?" asked Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Yes. On page 334, line 19, 'Miscellaneous 
 Writings/ she wrote: 'The diabolism of supposi- 
 tional evil at work in the name of good, is a lie 
 of the highest degree of nothingness : just reduce 
 this falsity to its proper denomination, and you 
 
MD. M.A. M. R.C. 191 
 
 have done with it.' In plain words, this means 
 that the belief that wrong thought has the same 
 power as right thought is a lie of the highest de- 
 gree of nothingness, and if we will mentally re- 
 duce this lie to its proper denomination, namely, 
 nothing, then we need bother no more about it." 
 
 "That seems clear, but still I cannot help but 
 think we need to guard against evil," replied Mrs. 
 Viloxon. 
 
 "Is it sickness, or the belief in sickness, that 
 makes you ill or produces the bodily results called 
 sickness?" asked Mr. Williams. 
 
 "I hardly know how to answer that," she re- 
 plied. 
 
 "If a friend is sick, does his sickness make you 
 sick?" was the next question. 
 
 "I scarcely know. Sometimes, I seem to be 
 affected by the ills of others," replied Mrs. Vi- 
 loxon. 
 
 "Hear what Mrs. Eddy has to say on the sub- 
 ject, page 83, line 14, 'Miscellaneous Writings': 
 'No person can accept another's belief, except it 
 
192 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 be with the consent of his own belief. If the er- 
 ror which knocks at the door of your own thought 
 originated in another's mind, you are a free moral 
 agent to reject or accept this error.' From this 
 it can be seen that your body cannot be affected 
 by another's belief. You must first accept or 
 make that belief your own, before you can have 
 any effect from the belief; and then you are not 
 affected by another's belief, but by the belief that 
 is now your own." 
 
 After a moment's pause, Mr. Williams con- 
 tinued: "Some one was foolish enough to orig- 
 inate the belief in M. D., as you call it, and you 
 accepted this belief and thus you made that erring 
 belief your own. Now the way to freedom is not 
 to daily fight this belief of M. D. as though it 
 were a reality, but to make nothing of it, and 
 disbelieve it. In other words, only those who 
 believe in a certain sickness get that sickness; and 
 so, only those who believe in mental diabolism, 
 can be affected by it; and really not by it, but by 
 
MD. M.A.M. R.C. 193 
 
 their own belief in it. To not believe in it, is to 
 be utterly immune from it." 
 
 "Oh, Mr. Williams ! If I were only certain of 
 this, what a wonderful amount of work it would 
 save me," and her voice was full of feeling. 
 
 "Please be sensible. Before you came into 
 Christian Science, did you have to fight this im- 
 aginary devil of diabolism, daily?" asked Mr. 
 Williams. 
 
 "No, I did not know there was any such thing," 
 she replied. 
 
 "Neither is there. Mrs. Eddy tells you it is 
 nothing." 
 
 "I know it is nothing," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "No, you do not know it is nothing. You just 
 repeat that like a parrot because you heard others 
 call it 'nothing'. If you knew it was nothing, you 
 would cease to fight it, as something. No rational 
 person would long fight with that which they knew 
 was nothing. If you gained the devil of mental 
 diabolism since you came into Science, then you 
 have at least one more devil to contend with than 
 
194 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 you had before you came to Science. Now that 
 is not Christian Science, neither is it the way to 
 mental freedom. " 
 
 "I can see the force of your logic, but I shall 
 need to have time for careful thought," said Mrs. 
 Viloxon. "Now I would like to ask a somewhat 
 similar question that has bothered me fully as 
 much as M. D. What do you think of M. A. M. ?" 
 
 That ever reappearing smile came to Mr. 
 Williams' face, as he answered: "Oh, she is all 
 right." 
 
 "She!" cried Mrs. Viloxon in surprise; then 
 added: "What or who do you mean by 'she' ?" 
 
 The smile broadened into a laugh as Mr. Wil- 
 liams said: "Why, M. A. M. — My Aunt 
 Mary." 
 
 "Mr. Williams, you jest! You are making 
 fun of me." 
 
 "No, not of you, but of 'My Aunt Mary.' 
 This reminds me of a funny experience that I 
 had when visiting down in Virginia. We were 
 touring, and visited at the home of one of my 
 
MD. M.A.M. R.C. 195 
 
 friends of the spirit whom I had never met be- 
 fore. Question after question was asked and an- 
 swered, and dinner time arrived. We were 
 pressed to stay for dinner and complied. As the 
 meal progressed, the maid occasionally brought 
 in a dish, and as she placed it on the table I heard 
 her quietly say, 'F. H. B.' It caught my atten- 
 tion and I wondered if this was a new M. A. M. 
 — 'My Aunt Mary,' and decided to observe mat- 
 ters closely. After a little, the maid came in with 
 another dish and as she placed it on the table, 
 she quietly said, 'M. I. K.' Things were getting 
 interesting to me, and as the dinner proceeded 
 there was an occasional 'F. H. B.' or 'M. I. K.,' 
 and I noticed it was always when the maid placed 
 something on the table. I said nothing during 
 the meal, but after dinner was over I determined 
 to find out what this mysterious 'F. H. B.' and 
 'M. I. K.' meant, and asked the hostess. She 
 said: 'So you noticed it, did you?' I answered: 
 'Yes.' 'Well/ said she, 'I will tell you. "F. H. 
 B." means, — "family hold back," and was said 
 
196 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 about the dishes that we were short on; and "M. 
 I. K." means "more in kitchen," and was the sig- 
 nal that the family could have all of that dish that 
 they wanted.' " 
 
 There was a merry laugh from Mrs. Viloxon 
 as she caught the import of the joke, and at 
 length she said: "and so you place M. A. M. in 
 the same class as F. H. B. and M. I. K." 
 
 "Yes, there is even less to it than that." 
 
 "I think you are mistaken about it," said Mrs. 
 Viloxon, as a look of seriousness came into her 
 eyes. "M. A. M. — Malicious Animal Magne- 
 tism — is a power and evil to beware of." 
 
 "I thought that Mrs. Eddy teaches that evil 
 has no power," said Mr. Williams. 
 
 "So she does," replied Mrs. Viloxon. Then 
 with a toss of her head, she said: "Mrs. Eddy 
 also teaches that there is no sickness but we have 
 to treat it just the same." 
 
 "That is just where you are mistaken, and 
 where all the mere believers in Christian Science 
 are mistaken. Correctly understood, Mrs. Eddy 
 
MD. M.A.M. R.C. 197 
 
 teaches that there is no sickness, so there could 
 be none to treat. There is, however, a false be- 
 lief in sickness, and it is this false belief that needs 
 to be destroyed. If you fight sickness as some- 
 thing, you merely make something out of nothing; 
 while real healing consists in reducing the sick 
 belief to 'its proper denomination,' as Mrs. Eddy 
 says, namely, nothing.-" 
 
 "That is all very fine indeed," said Mrs. Vi- 
 loxon, "but how about Animal Magnetism? Mrs. 
 Eddy has a chapter in 'Science and Health' de- 
 voted to the subject, has she not?" 
 
 "Yes, she has devoted a mere five or six pages 
 of a seven hundred page book to the subject. 
 This brings to mind a story of some boys who had 
 wandered into a forest and seeing something in- 
 distinctly, it frightened them. While running 
 away from it in great fear and excitement they 
 met an old trapper and hunter who asked them 
 the cause of their fear. Each boy began to de- 
 scribe the creature differently according to what 
 they imagined they had seen. After they were 
 
198 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 all through, the hunter merely said: 'they ain't no 
 sech animile.' The substance of the six pages 
 that Mrs. Eddy devotes to the subject of Animal 
 Magnetism is that she found, in the words of the 
 hunter, that, 'they ain't no sech animile' in real- 
 ity," said Mr. Williams with a laugh. 
 
 Mrs. Viloxon w T anted to laugh also, but her fear 
 bound her; so she merely smiled, and said: u But 
 we are supposed to protect ourselves from this 
 evil, daily." 
 
 "Another straw devil to fight! My, I wonder 
 how you Scientists have any time left to treat 
 yourselves or your patients with good thought, 
 for you are engaged all day long in fighting 
 imaginary devils. " 
 
 "But it is not imaginary," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Let us look into the subject. Here, on page 
 102, latest edition of 'Science and Health' at the 
 top of the page, Mrs. Eddy wrote : 'Animal mag- 
 netism has no scientific foundation.' If it has no 
 scientific foundation then it has no foundation in 
 fact, and therefore at best it is but an imagination 
 
MD. M.A. M. R. C. 199 
 
 or belief, and we have seen that he who disbelieves 
 a certain belief, cannot be affected by that belief. 
 Therefore, instead of fighting this mental scare- 
 crow daily, our remedy lies in disbelieving it to 
 be something. The marginal heading attached 
 to this same paragraph tells the whole story, for 
 it says, ''Mere negation'; in other words, animal 
 magnetism is a mere negation, or nothing at all." 
 
 "Is there nothing at all that you fear?" asked 
 Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "Not for more than a minute. By that time, 
 my reason is at work, and tells me that in a uni- 
 verse, the cause of which is good, there could be 
 nothing in reality to be afraid of, for in such a 
 universe there would be nothing real but the 
 good." 
 
 "Yes, yes, that is only too true. Why can I not 
 keep this before my thought constantly." 
 
 "Because you are so busy looking up flocks of 
 new devils to frighten yourself with that you 
 have no time to think that the good alone is all, 
 as taught by Jesus, Paul and Mrs. Eddy." 
 
200 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "I believe you have stated the matter exactly 
 right. It seems that we older Scientists have been 
 putting in all our time searching out evils (devils) 
 when the fact is, there are none; and this time, if 
 spent in searching for Good, would have gained 
 us our freedom through the understanding which 
 would naturally have unfolded to us," said Mrs. 
 Viloxon. 
 
 "It is certainly a waste of time to search for 
 evil, for if you even imagine that you have found 
 it, the very imagining of it brings evil to your 
 mind, and then you experience the evil you imag- 
 ined as bodily discomfort. I shall keep on look- 
 ing for the good, the only God, or reality." 
 
 u You certainly are right, and I shall turn over 
 a new leaf and try to lose all interest in evil and 
 put my whole attention to discovering the good. 
 Now I have one more demon (or call it what you 
 may) on my list, and this demon seems more 
 tangible or real than the others, and perhaps 
 needs the attention that is given it." 
 
 "No devil needs attention. It is lack of atten- 
 
MD. M.A.M. R.C. 201 
 
 tion that destroys the devil. We are not forbid- 
 den by Holy Writ to eat of the tree of good and 
 evil, for there is no such tree; but we are warned 
 not to eat of the tree of the KNOWLEDGE of 
 good and evil. We are not warned against evil, 
 for there is none in reality; but we are forbidden 
 to sense evil. In other words, we are bidden to 
 keep the sense of evil out of our consciousness 
 entirely, for then it can find no means of mani- 
 festation." 
 
 "I never realized that before," said Mrs. Vi- 
 loxon; and then began to reason slowly: "It is 
 not evil that does the damage, it is the sense of 
 evil that we mentally entertain which causes the 
 evil manifestations." 
 
 "I see we are progressing. If what you said 
 is true, then it is equally true that it is not sick- 
 ness that makes us sick, but it is the sense of sick- 
 ness that we mentally entertain that eventually 
 manifests as sickness." 
 
 u Yes, I see that clearly now. But to return to 
 my question,— do you believe in R. C?" 
 
202 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "If the letters stand for right consciousness, 
 yes. If you mean that they merely stand for 
 necromancy, enchantment, mental mal-practice, 
 diabolism or some such mysterious nonsense, no!" 
 
 "Do you believe in Roman Catholicism?" now 
 asked Mrs. Viloxon, plainly. 
 
 "No, for if I did I would attend that church 
 and follow their preachings," replied Mr. Wil- 
 liams. 
 
 "But you do not seem to catch my meaning," 
 she insisted. 
 
 "Oh yes, I know what you mean. But I also 
 know from years of healing practice, that it takes 
 hours and days and sometimes months of con- 
 centrated effort with the all-powerful right 
 thought to produce any effect in a patient; and if 
 this be the case, I am sure that if any one tried 
 to produce an evil effect in me with the powerless 
 evil thought, he would have only his trouble for 
 his pains. It's the same story as all the rest, 
 namely, a belief that evil has power. Away with 
 it! Keep your mind constantly filled with good 
 
MD. M.A.M. R.C. 203 
 
 thoughts, and forget there ever was a devil, and 
 he will return to his native nothingness from 
 sheer neglect. I have always told my students that 
 if they are in tune with good they are out of tune 
 with evil, and that is enough." 
 
 u Mr. Williams, I believe I understand you 
 fully on this question. You mean to have me 
 understand, that the belief in animal magnetism 
 or any form of mal-practice, lays us open to that 
 mal-practice; while a disbelief in it closes the door 
 of our consciousness to it, and then we are utterly 
 immune from it." 
 
 "Exactly right! As with sickness, so it is with 
 all other beliefs, no matter whether it be under 
 the name of M. D., M. A. M. or R. C. V /If you 
 don't believe in a certain sickness, you will never 
 experience it; the same holds true with all this 
 other nonsense." 
 
 "Thank heavens, I am done with that lot of 
 devils ! They surely have kept me busy these last 
 few years," and Mrs. Viloxon gave a sigh of 
 relief. 
 
204 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 "They could do nothing of themselves. They 
 are scarecrows, merely, like the child's plaything, 
 — the monkey on a stick. It does nothing unless 
 you pull the string. So forget the monkey, and 
 thus stop pulling the string, and it will cease to 
 frighten you." 
 
 "Mr. Williams, you can rest assured I shall 
 let that string severely alone in the future," laugh- 
 ingly, replied Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "See that you do so, and become self confident 
 and fearless." 
 
 "Mr. Williams, I don't know how to thank 
 you for your kindness in enlightening me, and 
 for helping me to destroy these pet evils, but you 
 know I thank you, don't you?" and tears of grati- 
 tude filled her eyes. 
 
 "Yes, I understand fully. I have not spent 
 years in the study of the symbolical face of the 
 Soul (the countenance) to no purpose. I knew, 
 when first I saw your face, that it would be worth 
 my time to set you right; and I know that you 
 will do your part in acquainting others with the 
 
MD. M.A.M. R.C. 205 
 
 glorious gospel, that there is really only the good 
 side to Life, and that all else is but a seeming." 
 
 "I shall certainly preach this true gospel at 
 every opportunity," said Mrs. Viloxon. 
 
 "I have started the work of emptying out the 
 errors in your mentality and thus have led you 
 up to 'The Sickle,' and the first chapter in the book 
 is entitled 'Emptying Out.' Reaching over to his 
 desk, Mr. Williams picked up a new book, and 
 said: "Take the book and thoroughly study it 
 and thus continue the good work I have begun." 
 
 As Mrs. Viloxon took the book, she said: "I 
 shall certainly do so, and shall continue to empty 
 my mental storehouse of all the rubbish that I 
 have allowed to accumulate there in the past 
 twenty-five years of my Christian Science experi- 
 ence. When I am done with my mental house- 
 cleaning I am coming to you, and again ask you 
 to give me the teacher's course in divine Meta- 
 physics." 
 
 Mr. Williams extended his hand to his depart- 
 ing visitor, and as he did so, said: "When that 
 
206 THE UNFOLDMENT 
 
 time comes I am sure you will find me ready to do 
 so, for the world needs the co-operation of every 
 honest heart and true thinker, and such I believe 
 you to be; to lift from off the shoulders of human- 
 kind the grievous burdens placed there by reli- 
 gious superstition and false teaching." 
 
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