Eighteen years ago, a student of Christian Science but not yet a church member, I had been told by a gynecologist of a tumorous condition for which he advised immediate surgery. He thought it might be malignant. Instinctively I rejected the surgery and sought the help of a Christian Science practitioner. Soon afterward I joined a local branch Church of Christ, Scientist. Church membership gave me a feeling of loving support in my desire to stand fast with God for healing.
As the condition became outwardly evident, I was praying daily and urgently for the healing I knew was possible. I lost fear of the symptoms when I realized even though I hadn't seen the end of the evil of this disease, that didn't mean it was insurmountable, or more real and powerful than the truth of man's God-given dominion over evil. Then I grasped the fact that under God's law there can be no failures! As suddenly as this thought took hold, the growth began to go. It was a palpable sensation like the deflating of an inward balloon. All the prayerful work the practitioner and I had done culminated in complete healing when the fear of failure was met head on! Mary Baker Eddy tells us (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 368), "When fear disappears, the foundation of disease is gone."
The fear of the past, as well of the future, can also be healed. From youth I had suffered, like most of my mother's family, from intense migraine headaches that put me in bed for days. Though I was praying long and earnestly to know myself as a child of Spirit, inheriting only good from my Father-Mother God, the condition persisted. The night I was elected Second Reader in our branch church I was struggling with a headache. Surprised by my election and taken aback with the fear that I'd not be able to fulfill my duties, I put down the suggestion with the understanding that God would support the right desire to be in my place, and I could leave it with Him. Shortly after I began reading, I returned to the teaching field from which I had been absent for nearly eighteen years. The challenge of both positions was at first intimidating. Continuing to pray for a better understanding of Mind's own clear perception of His perfect child, and that as His child I reflect effortlessly the dominion of Truth, I found myself able to fulfill both responsibilities with never a headache to occasion a single day off. The healing was complete. Looking back, I can see that a willingness to go forward on the basis of the truths we declare for ourselves can free us from any supposed bondage. My mother's healing of migraine came with my own.
