At one time I suddenly found that my mouth would open only slightly and my face and neck were swollen and painful. I was afraid. At first my only desire was for a physical healing. But what a tremendous opportunity this turned out to be! For I gained a much clearer understanding of my spiritual relationship to perfect, omnipotent God. When prayer on my own for a few days brought no change in the condition, I asked a Christian Science practitioner for help.
This statement in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy established my approach from the outset (p. 275): "The starting-point of divine Science is that God, Spirit, is All-in-all, and that there is no other might nor Mind,—that God is Love, and therefore He is divine Principle." Slowly I began to grasp the infinitude of God's presence and His omnipotence over the universe, including man. Because God, good, is everywhere, there is no place for anything unlike Him; and because He is infinite Mind, there is no point beyond His infinity. I recognized that God, Mind, is eternally perfect, and that in my true nature I manifested the perfection of Mind, despite the evidence of imperfection.
As the practitioner continued her work, I began to see the unreality of matter. When faced with pain, it was natural to deny that there can be sensation in matter, because the concept of life in matter is an illusion of mortal mind. Now I could more clearly understand that I was not an imperfect mortal who was being treated to become purer or more perfect. In my real being I always express purity and perfection as the idea of pure and perfect God.
