Mary Baker Eddy tells us on page 243 in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: "The divine Love, which made harmless the poisonous viper, which delivered men from the boiling oil, from the fiery furnace, from the jaws of the lion, can heal the sick in every age and triumph over sin and death."
For more than a quarter of a century as a student of Christian Science I have been experiencing the truth of the above passage. At present I am the owner of a private zoological park. Prior to taking up the study of Christian Science, I had narrowly escaped death by two serious snakebites. Many months were involved in the final recovery, and one bite caused me to wear a steel brace on my leg to walk properly. After witnessing an instantaneous healing through Christian Science of a urinary infection, I decided to study the religion I had always opposed. After a few weeks devoted to gaining some understanding of Science, my leg brace needed to be repaired. I discovered I could walk without it, and abandoned its use.
During this period I was working on a wild animal and reptile ranch in Florida. One day while conducting a tour with a group of tourists, I was severely bitten in the palm of the hand by a monkey. Moments later, while extracting venom from a diamondback rattlesnake, a near teaspoon of venom spilled in the open wound on my hand. At once all the material symptoms of snakebite were present. Suddenly the still small voice came to me, "Do not acknowledge that you have been poisoned." I calmly put the reptile back into his den. No one was aware of the happening. We were in the middle of the tour, and to have stopped and excused myself would have indicated that something was amiss. I decided to go on with the tour and work it out.
