When a problem doesn't yield to our prayerful efforts, it is often helpful to turn thought away from self and the contemplation of the problem and to work impersonally for the world. This point was brought rather forcefully to my attention when I was returning from a vacation trip in the East. As I left for the airport, I was suddenly stricken with alarming symptoms of influenza which kept me busy refuting the error and affirming the truth.
At the airport, it started to rain heavily, and there was some doubt whether the plane would take off. On the plane, my condition grew worse until it seemed that I might lose consciousness. At a moment of great fear, the thought came to me, "You are so ill that you don't care if the plane crashes." This shocked me into awareness that all was not well; and I knew that regardless of how miserable I felt, I was interested in the safety of everyone on that plane.
I was obedient to this spiritual intuition and immediately turned my thought away from self and started to work for the safety of the passengers and the plane. I knew that the divine Mind governs man and that this Mind is unerring in intelligence. I knew also that those on the plane could never be outside Love's tender care nor be separated from safety and that true activity proceeds from the one Mind and is spiritual and harmonious. After I had spent a few minutes in such prayerful work, it was announced that we would make an unscheduled landing in Washington, District of Columbia.
We landed safely. I was sitting on a small case next to the plane when the pilots left, and I overheard one say, "They'll never get that plane off the ground again." And I thanked God for our protection. We transferred to another plane; and when I arrived home, I was completely well. I have been so grateful for this healing, because it taught me to obey the spiritual intuitions that come to us.
Another healing for which I am grateful is that of deafness in one ear. I was unable to hear over the telephone, nor could I hear the ticking of an alarm clock held next to that ear. The practitioner aroused my thought with these words: "You do wish to hear the word of God." She referred me to these sentences from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy (p. 486): "Sight, hearing, all the spiritual senses of man, are eternal. They cannot be lost. Their reality and immortality are in Spirit and understanding, not in matter,—hence their permanence." In a few months, I awakened one morning and found to my great joy that I could hear the ticking of my wrist watch.
About four years ago an infected condition appeared in the same ear, and some vigorous affirmations of the truth had to be made before the condition disappeared and hearing was restored. The practitioner who helped me at this time also referred to the passage quoted above and said that regardless of sense testimony man's hearing is not in matter but in Mind. She also drew my attention to this statement from Science and Health (p. 488): "If it were possible for the real senses of man to be injured, Soul could reproduce them in all their perfection; but they cannot be disturbed nor destroyed, since they exist in immortal Mind, not in matter." One night I awakened to find that the ear was draining painlessly, and my hearing was restored to normal.
Another time I had a beautiful healing of a smashed finger, the top of which was nearly severed. The practitioner who helped me did such wonderful work that the bleeding quickly stopped; and in a very short time the finger resumed its normal appearance, and there was never a sense of pain. However, there was quite a lot of fear to be dispelled. When it was cast out, the healing came about naturally, and the finger was restored to wholeness. I lost only one week from work. I am so grateful for the loving support I received during that time.
My gratitude for Christian Science is boundless. For the practitioners who have helped me many times, for the privilege of attending the Christian Science Sunday School and having taught therein, for class instruction, for the lectures and periodicals, and for every channel provided by our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, for our growth Spirit-ward I am very grateful. I am happy to be a member of The Mother Church and a branch church.— Los Angeles, California.
