Peter urged, "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you" (I Pet. 3:15). Many wonderful healings and experiences both great and small could be recounted in explanation "of the hope that is in" me. However, when I am asked what proof I have that Christian Science can and does heal whenever properly applied, one particular healing comes to thought.
About twenty years ago we lived in a state where children were required to undergo a series of inoculations before their first birthday. When I took our youngest son for the first of these shots, the doctor asked that I let him make an appointment with an orthopedic specialist as soon as possible. When I expressed surprise, he stated rather bluntly that both the child's feet were turned in because of a congenital deformity—clubfoot—and not because of prematurity as I had thought. He added that one heel seemed to be without a joint and therefore could never bend or move normally. When I refused the appointment, he told me that I must accept the responsibility. He said that although the boy always would be handicapped, he might be less so if proper treatment were started immediately.
The boy's father, though not a Christian Scientist at that time, agreed to let me have Christian Science treatment for our son. I wrote immediately to a Christian Science practitioner in a distant city asking for help, and stated that we had only a little over three weeks before returning to the doctor's office for the next inoculation. I must admit the problem loomed large and frightening at that time. I shall never forget nor cease to be grateful for the practitioner's inspiring reply in a letter which included the questions: "Why wait three weeks? What is the matter with today?"
