As one raised in Christian Science, I have learned to expect healing and joy as a way of life. One healing that stands out to me occurred when our youngest child, then three years old, had whooping cough. My husband, who is not a Christian Scientist, was away on a long trip. I was alone most of the time with three children. In accordance with the law, a public health nurse came and declared that it was the disease that I had suspected.
The child grew worse during his father's absence, and fear tried to engulf me. The Christian Science practitioner who was helping recommended that I work with Mrs. Eddy's answer to the question "What is man?" on pages 475-477 in Science and Health. This I did faithfully. I read and read, until it was revealed to me, as Mrs. Eddy says on page 476: "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick."
I did not let this "correct view of man" leave my consciousness. I held to it every time the child's condition appeared to grow worse. The nurse had predicted the disease would last at least two months. The healing was complete in less than a month. The same child was healed almost instantly some time later when a scalding hot beverage was accidentally spilled on him. There was a moment's show of redness, but no sign of injury, all having been taken care of through a decisive voicing of the truth.
