Many years ago I lived in a rural community, filled with Amish farmhouses. Amish horse-drawn carriages (behind which I occasionally became trapped if driving somewhere) served as a quiet reminder to slow down and acknowledge the heavenly Father's presence and His simple, timeless care for me.
Eventually I needed that reminder. Friends and I had flocked to a wonderful swimming hole deep in the Amish countryside. That night my ear grew painful from an apparent infection. I wanted to address this through spiritual means. I called a Christian Science practitioner and asked for his prayers.
But things got worse, not better. I called again. Again he prayed. Again the infection spread further down the side of my neck. I grew scared. After several days, the practitioner turned me to a passage in Science and Health underscoring the value of clinging to God and to His idea (see p. 495). We hung up and I hung on to the spiritual insights he'd shared. What happened next left me in awe. Over the next hour, as I clung to that passage, I could monitor—almost as if I were watching—the infection retreat back up the side of my neck and then vanish. It was the most observable healing I'd had up to that point. Through it, I came to understand in some modest degree who the great Physician is and what He does.
