Before I knew of Christian Science, I suffered from severe migraine headaches, and my hands were covered with warts. I tried many material remedies, but neither condition was healed. One day I was given a copy of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy to study. I began attending a Christian Science Sunday School. Wonderful truths from the Bible became understandable, and for the first time I saw how to apply them to my daily life. I was so busy learning about God and my true relationship to Him that I forgot all about the physical conditions. One day I realized I no longer had the headaches. I looked at my hands and saw the warts were completely gone. These healings have been permanent.
In the years that followed I have been healed of appendicitis, a badly injured foot, a dislocated knee, burns, colds, and laryngitis. Also, false character traits, such as impatience and alternate periods of extreme happiness and depression, have been replaced with humility, patience, and a constant feeling of peace and joy.
This early instance of protection has meant a lot to me. One morning at school I was playing netball with a group of friends. The heavy goal post, to which the large iron goal ring was attached, snapped at the base and crashed down on my left shoulder. I took immediate action by declaring silently that I was not hurt. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (p. 397): "When an accident happens, you think or exclaim. 'I am hurt!' Your thought is more powerful than your words, more powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury real." She continues: "Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt and understand the reason why, and you will find the ensuing good effects to be in exact proportion to your disbelief in physics, and your fidelity to divine metaphysics, confidence in God as All, which the Scriptures declare Him to be." I quickly replaced the suggestion of accident with a realization of God's allness and my true inseparability from Him as His spiritual reflection. A school official examined the shoulder and found it completely sound. And there were no physical aftereffects of the incident.
