Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health (p. 144), "When the Science of being is universally understood, every man will be his own physician, and Truth will be the universal panacea." I've certainly experienced this panacea in every aspect of my daily life, including improved human relations, a higher concept of home, employment, supply, and the healing of physical and emotional problems, as well as grief. Sometimes these healings were with the aid of a Christian Science practitioner, and at other times they came through my own growing understanding of Christian Science.
During the four years my husband and I were in Africa, I contracted malaria. It got to the point I was delirious much of the time and very weak. The demands on my husband were so severe that he found himself coming down with the same symptoms. There seemed to be no alternative but to put me in the hospital. My husband tried to have me admitted with the provision that no drugs would be given to me, but the hospital authorities flatly refused. As we did not believe in drugs as a healing agent, this was certainly not in keeping with Christian Science. However, we both felt much gratitude for the loving care I received.
I returned to work after I was released. All went well until a year later when a predicted periodic return of malaria was evident. This time I was more alert, and I also had the added strength of Christian Science class instruction to fall back on. I had learned to pray more precisely, and a call to a Christian Science practitioner went through quickly. The healing soon came, and this time was a decisive victory for Christian Science, for since that time I have never been troubled with a return of the symptoms. This was about ten years ago, and we remained in the same tropical climate for another two years.
Our experiences of finding jobs in Africa through relying completely on God and yielding our human wills to His showed us that this is the quickest way. After we returned to the United States my husband was located in a position in Boston. Even before we were settled in our new surroundings I was offered work that utilized my background in Africa and other capacities I didn't know I had. It turned out to be one of the most satisfying, stimulating, and challenging jobs of my career.
I have learned that I can trust God completely, no matter what the circumstance. The beauty of Christian Science is that what it has to offer is here for everyone.
Miami, Florida
My wife mentioned that while I was trying to care for her during her first bout with malaria, I came down with the symptoms of the same disease. Though I was never put to bed with it, I became so weak I was able to handle only the most minimal functions of my position. In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says (p. 264), "We must look where we would walk, and we must act as possessing all power from Him in whom we have our being." So regardless of how small each function was that I had to perform I attacked it with the conviction that the strength required came from God and therefore I could do whatever I needed to do. In spite of the weakness and other symptoms, I absolutely refused to submit to what the material senses were trying to tell me, and within a relatively few days the spell was broken and I regained my full capacities.
The radical determination to hold to the truth of man's perfection as the image of God has healed me of arthritis after several months and dissolved a growth on my ear.
Upon our return from Africa, during three months I tried all of the customary ways of finding a job. I answered ads, sent out resumes, engaged employment agencies, and had more interviews than I can remember. The answer was always the same, I was overqualified for the positions open.
After three months, like the prodigal son in Christ Jesus' parable, I came to myself. One day I decided to halt all this running around and spend the day in a Christian Science Reading Room gaining a more spiritual sense of employment. I read several articles on the subject of employment, written during the economic depression, from back issues of the Journal. It became quite clear to me that I had plenty to do reflecting the qualities of God and would be amply employed understanding my position in His harmonious universe.
This day of quiet study gave me a great sense of peace and the conviction that I was now on the right road.
In less than an hour after leaving the Reading Room I received a long-distance call from the corporate headquarters of a computer manufacturer. They had need of a systems representative for an assignment in Boston for which my background and experience uniquely qualified me. Within a week I was in Boston for an interview and was given a position that proved to be the most progressive and rewarding of my career. It also gave me the opportunity to serve the Christian Science movement in a small way, for which I am grateful.
Christian Science has been my only physician since birth. It has been my counselor, my guide, my companion in loneliness, my shield and high tower. I am eternally grateful to God, who revealed to Mrs. Eddy the Science of Christ exemplified by Christ Jesus.
