Throughout our married life my husband and I have relied on Christian Science alone for healing. Our three children have had very few so-called children's diseases. Any that appeared were quickly healed, sometimes with the help of a practitioner, sometimes by our own work, and the incidence has diminished as our spiritual understanding has increased.
There was an occasion when our elder son fell twenty-five feet down a cliff onto rocks beneath. I had been sitting on the beach thinking about the week's Lesson-sermon, given in the Quarterly, when I saw him slip. I felt so secure in the truth I had been contemplating that I did not even rise to my feet, but called to him as he fell, "All is well!"
In the silence that followed his disappearance amongst the rocks at the base of the cliff, I said firmly, "Get up!" In a moment he emerged, and apart from some grazes on one knee, which we dismissed with the truth that since the real man had never fallen there could in reality be no aftereffects of a fall, he was unscathed. He went right back to climbing on the cliffs.
Another healing occurred about seven years ago when our daughter was seven. The driveway of the house in which we were living at that time sloped steeply to the roadway below. We were never very happy about backing down this drive, and took every human precaution to be sure that the children were out of the way before setting the car in motion. However, the fear must have remained.
One Saturday afternoon, while I was preparing dinner, my husband decided to go to the nearby shops. I heard the car start, and then our daughter screamed. I knew at once what had occurred. As I ran towards the back door I suddenly noticed that I was tense with fear, my hands being tightly clasped in front of me. I stopped still and declared aloud, "It never happened," knowing, as I spoke, that "under divine Providence there can be no accidents, since there is no room for imperfection in perfection" (Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, p. 424). All fear left me and a sense of peace and, incredibly, joy came to me, and the child's crying ceased.
As my husband came to the door carrying our daughter I looked first at him and said, "No accident has taken place; so we won't ask now, or ever, what happened, and we won't blame ourselves or her." My husband replied that he had had the same thought and so had refrained from asking the child any questions; but he knew that the heavy car had passed over her stomach.
All now being calm the child was put just as she was onto a couch in the living room while I rang a practitioner. He asked if she was in pain, and I replied that she wasn't; and we had no further conversation. Then I went back to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner; and, being able to see the others through a serving hatch, I recommended we sing some hymns from the Christian Science Hymnal. Our elder son came in too, and a great sense of unity was felt.
So far the girl had not used her legs, but, suddenly, as we all held to the truth that nothing inharmonious had happened, she slipped off the couch and ran to her bedroom for her Hymnal.
When I rang the practitioner again about forty minutes from the first call to him, our daughter was about to sit down to a three-course dinner which she ate and thoroughly enjoyed. He rejoiced with us. Later, when she took a bath, there was not a scratch on her body.
It is interesting to note that although this child had until then had a rather timid approach to sport, she has become in the years since very adept and is a member of her school's softball and basketball teams.
A healing which showed us how important it is to be faithful in the smallest things so that we may be prepared for bigger issues occurred three years ago when our younger son was three. Years ago my husband and I had decided that we would never probe for a splinter. If it could be easily grasped by fingers or pincers, it was removed; but we felt that to take any further steps was to employ surgery. Therefore when the little one came tearfully to me one day I was prepared. He had been playing in his sandpile; and in order to make a road for his cars, he had taken an old rough, wooden paling and smoothed sand onto it with his hands. In doing so he had covered the palms and the insides of his fingers with splinters, one finger alone having eight splinters all deeply embedded.
Taking him on my knee, I reminded him that God loved him and would never do anything to hurt him. Then assuring him that God would look after his hands, I wrapped them in soft cloth, put on his gloves, and took him for a walk in his pushchair. He felt no discomfort.
That night after his bath, I again started to cover his hands; but he said: "Oh, Mummy, don't fuss. God's fixing them." Seeing that he was in earnest, I put the bandages aside, and then, although I would not have thought it possible, I forgot the matter for two days. During that time he played as usual and was happy and contented.
When I again recalled the incident, I was drying his hands, and, saying nothing to him, I turned them over. The skin was unblemished; not a splinter remained. He saw what I was about and said matter-of-factly: "See, Mummy, I said not to fuss. God fixed it!"
For these and many other healings, I am very grateful. But I am even more grateful for the assurance our wonderful religion brings of God's continuing care and protection for all.— Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
