I am grateful for Christian Science, which I feel has benefited my life in many ways. Many times I have received treatment through prayer from a Christian Science practitioner. I feel most grateful, however, that Christian Science gives us the ability to pray effectively for ourselves. Mrs. Eddy states on page 13 of Science and Health, "Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals." We prove this statement when we do our own prayerful work.
One experience of mine, which was striking for the directness of the results, occurred several years ago when I was traveling. I contracted a cold and spent an uncomfortable day while on my way to a western city, where I was to attend a meeting the next day. The following morning I was no better and awoke feeling that I would not be able to attend the meeting. Realizing that I was paid by my employer to be in that place for a purpose, and that many other individuals were involved which would make any rescheduling impossible, I turned to the textbook, Science and Health. On page 392 I found the statement, "To cure a bodily ailment, every broken moral law should be taken into account and the error be rebuked." This arrested my attention, but I was not certain how the message would apply to me.
I mentally went through the Ten Commandments but did not recognize how I was breaking a moral law. Going through them again, more thoughtfully, substituting the synonyms for God in the First Commandment, I came to (Ex. 20:3), "Thou shalt have no other gods [minds] before me [Mind]." I then recognized that I was anticipating a great deal of controversy at the meeting and was believing that some of the participants were not even representing honest positions. I resolved that I would correct that belief then and there and that I would attend the meeting. Even if not capable of participating in the usual sense, I would go to the meeting to acknowledge that there is but one Mind, for there is but one God. With that I dressed, ate breakfast, and got into a cab to go to the plant where the meeting would be. Before the cab arrived, I was healed. There was no cold, and in every part of that meeting that involved my technical area there was complete agreement among all in attendance.
