"It's turned into a contentious subject."

"That's why I suggested it."

"Those town hall meetings are wild."

"Fine. But what can we as Christian Scientists contribute to the situation?"

"We're certainly interested in health care — spiritual care on all levels. The planet, the economy — everywhere the need's for healing."

"Some of the people in those meetings look like they could use mental health care."

"Have you noticed they don't speak on the real issues. They get off on death panels socialized medicine...."

"...and ' I want back my country'. What? From liberals, Blacks, Gays? It's not just health care that's bugging them."

"What are we doing in our practice to support the emergence of proper health care?"

"I'm trying to keep the focus on man in Science — eternal, perfect — completely untouched by duality, otherwise known as matter. Also I'm trying not the outline what any health plan should look like."

"Frankly I haven't gotten much beyond material appearances. But I do feel it's a good thing for people to have access to proper health care, however they define it."

"Doesn't everyone, even the right wing, agree something has to be done?"

"Yes. And many medical and corporate powers are in favor of something along the lines of the Democratic proposals."

"I have something. My yoga teacher usually asks the class how the bodies are doing before we start. I said I felt like I was ready for euthanasia. It got a laugh but later I thought ' What an awful thing for a Christian Scientist to say.'"

"Right. I'm shocked — shocked!"

"Didn't I tell you to use Adrien Arpel's eye gel? You can hold off the death camps for a few more years!"

"Now let me finish. After the wave of chagrin, I saw as St. Paul says, we're dying daily. Health care and life extension are really about not letting the concept of me get stuck but evolve into a closer resemblance to divine reality."

"So, the reality of you is the savior of the belief of you."

"Excellent!"

"Isn't materia medica actually a sacramental religious system? Hospitals, doctors, drugs etc. — they're analogous to Jesus, the highest human concept of physical health and wellbeing at that level of belief."

"That's a stretch!"

"It's that wave and particle thing we talk about all the time."

"You mean quantum physics?"

"Right. If medicine is seen as material, it's a wasting particle. Perhaps a wonderful doctor or miracle drug will have an evil side that'll let you down. But with a little help from Christian Science I don't have to leave it there. I can find the wave or divine idea conceived as a particle. With knowing lodged in the idea, we could see full healing without the risks of dualistic beliefs."

"We have our dualistic concepts in Christian Science too. Going to church, asking a practitioner to pray for us. These aren't God or even Christ. They're concepts proclaiming Christ perhaps. Ideally we don't get hooked on a concept but live the Christ."

"Good point. I have to remember that none of these human footsteps is causative, because we're already perfect.""Let's take some individual issues and see what we can do with them."

"What do you mean?"

"Like single payer or portable insurance or preexistent conditions."

"Well, single payer — we could see the One and Only as not just paying but actually healing. How come? Well, as you just said, everyone’s already perfect."

"Okay! Portability — Principle, God, goes with us everywhere constantly reassuring us of perfect harmony."

"And our existence — pre, post or concurrent — is actually Life, God. And He's the source and condition of our being.."

"There's a move to provide more help for people with addictions. Alcohol, drugs, overeating — all end up causing terrible health problems. We've talked about these areas before and seen they're all based in a search for God. We can also see that searching isn't necessary when we realize the truth of at-one-ment with Deity right now."

"I wish they'd just legalize drugs and stop the senseless killings and creation of narco-states."

"The country has far too much invested in the war on drugs to do anything like that. Think of all the police, infrastructure and prisons devoted to this cause. Why, we have 5% of the world's population and 25% of its prisoners. It'd be a huge adjustment."

"The problem is the government has provided price supports for illegal drugs. Vast wealth is pressed into the hands of those currently caught up in the trade. And since it's all outside the law, anything goes — including plenty of killings. The government could wipe all this out with the stroke of a pen!"

"Somebody would take over."

"Sure — maybe big tobacco or big pharma — but the substances would be standardized, regulated and taxed. Studies could be run to see what's truly dangerous and what's not."

"You'd have to have a doctor or someone like that give you a prescription."

"Maybe — I'm not sure. Some compounds might be available over the counter."

"What about driving under the influence?"

"Well, if something's dangerous — we'd have to have stiff laws against that. We could use some of the empty prisons for those folks."

"I like your approach. We'd save beaucoup money some of which could be used for treatment and to run ads aimed at reducing drug dependence."

"I like it too. Bottom line you hardly ever hear of someone getting killed over booze or cigarettes or Sarah Lee. Can you back it up with metaphysics?"

"Well let's see. I guess the best thing to see is that everyone is a pure idea of God and therefore totally joyous and satisfied.""Let's get back to those town meetings. Can we see something that'd help reduce all the anger and uproar?"

"Do you remember how the support for Joseph McCarthy, with all its rage and paranoia, peaked and collapsed in the early 50's? It was a bell curve — I think we'll see the same thing here. "

"That's plausible. I want to go deeper. These poor people are terrified of losing health care. For them it's equivalent to a death sentence. It could be an opportunity for learning. Do you remember that doctor’s strike in Israel maybe ten years ago? It lasted several days — during which no one died. Usually 5 or 6 people per day die. For me it seemed like suddenly the patients were thrown back on their own resources — which rose to the occasion."

"Who would want to die without a doctor officiating?"

"Exactly! Maybe there's a hint here for our treatment. People may just find they can do very well without so much morbid attention to medical lore."

"This could also provide an opening for Christian Science as health plans fail to live up to expectations."

"I wonder if we're ready for that. Could we welcome an influx of newbies?"

"Don't make me laugh!"

"We'll be able to handle it if we're living the Life that's God."

"One last thing before we go. What are we doing about swine flu?"

"Belief in swine flu — okay?"

"Okay. So what are you doing about the belief in swine flu?"

"Well the sheer magnitude of the dread and the overwhelming forecasts point to the Truth — for me anyway. Greatness and the power belong to God who is our Life."

"Also helpful might be seeing that there's really no mortal to believe in anything. God's man is an extension of God Himself and is not a believer."

"We need to end. Any topic suggestions?"

"How about forgiveness in Science? There's so much back and forth on the airwaves about the release of the Lockerbie bomber. When we're talking about mortals, how could they possibly forgive or be forgiven? It would require absolute Science to do that."

"The topic's fine with me."

"Me too."

"Give me words for the home page."

"Uh — Real Forgiveness."