For weeks one summer we were greatly disturbed by some neighborhood children. They rode their bicycles through our yard and a neighbor's flower beds, kicked our dog, causing her to bark and chase them, looked in our windows, and rang our doorbell at 6 a.m.
After a house two doors away burned, we became afraid to go out. This fear almost kept us from going to our branch church. But we realized one Sunday that our desire to go to church stemmed from a deeper desire to worship and obey God, so we went. During the readings from the Bible Lesson (found in the Christian Science Quarterly) the feeling of the love God has for us all suddenly became clear to me and I saw that there is no other power because God is omnipotent. All fear and anxiety vanished. It was with much relief and gratitude that I sang these words from Hymn No. 64 at the close of the service (Christian Science Hymnal): "My heart is singing: I have found the way."
Later in the afternoon the two little boys who had been disturbing the neighborhood came to say they were sorry for what they had done. When I looked at them, they seemed so changed from what I had seen them as before; their faces were loving and gentle. I told them that I had gone to church that morning and prayed to see God's harmony in our neighborhood. "We will forget the whole thing," I said. "It is just as though it never happened." And I put my arms around them and said, "I love you both."
That was the end of the difficulty. And it has proved to be a permanent healing. Now not only these boys but many other local children make a point of speaking to us when they pass by!
If we truly appreciate God's creation, we use spiritual facts to correct every resentful thought. Then we see spiritual reality despite evil suggestions—whether these seem to stem from mankind as a whole or appear in the form of temper and lack of discipline in a child. Every time we feel genuine compassion for those who are hateful or suffer, we are giving them a gift they will remember always—the love of Life, the only gift worth giving for it blesses by teaching how to forgive and heal. This is what I felt for those little boys. And I felt it because of what I'd glimpsed of the gentle power of divine Love at the church service that morning.
About three years ago, during work on the roof of a gazebo, my husband missed a step while climbing the ladder and badly injured his leg in the fall. When he called to me for help I firmly reminded him that he was the image of God—His idea—and no event or situation could change this truth. I helped him into the house and washed his leg. There was great pain, but when we were both insistent in our declarations of truth he felt some relief. The pain returned, however, and so I started to read Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy to sustain my understanding. She says on page 414: "Christian Science declares that Mind is substance, also that matter neither feels, suffers, nor enjoys."
My husband was still uncomfortable when he went to bed that night, but we both agreed to continue praying and praising God despite the physical evidence. Sometime in the night I woke with an all-encompassing sense of thanksgiving and assurance. It was as a light leading into all truth. I got up and felt for a pen on my night stand. Without turning on a light, I found the lid of a small box to write on; I wanted to get down the thoughts while they were still fresh. I just knew my husband was healed because I had seen through the discordant appearance of injury to the harmony of spiritual reality.
The next morning I read what I'd written:
Yet with the wings of the morning,
with the windows of heaven in sight,
I soar through mist and shadow,
for the angels of truth were my light.
When my husband woke he said that during the night the pain and soreness had suddenly left him. We rejoiced and gave thanks to God for this wonderful healing.
Another time, while I was preparing dinner, I thoughtlessly put my hand on a hot burner. Because it was painful I was tempted to look at it, so I got a cloth and wrapped the hand. We had dinner guests that night, but no one mentioned the incident.
I remembered Mrs. Eddy's promise in Science and Health (p. 268): "Belief in a material basis, from which may be deduced all rationality, is slowly yielding to the idea of a metaphysical basis, looking away from matter to Mind as the cause of every effect." And I pondered inspiring passages from the Bible, especially this one (Ps. 91:11): "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." It reminded me of God's love and constant care of His manifestation, man.
Some time later, however, my hand began to hurt again. Right away, I recognized this pain as a mortal suggestion and reasoned that my sole responsibility was to hold to perfection as the only fact of existence. Later, when I unwrapped the hand, there was no redness and no longer any marks! The healing was complete, and the pain never returned.
Years ago when I was living alone, I was so sick one morning that I could hardly stand. This verse from Proverbs came to mind (3:5): "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart." As I dressed for work my only thought was: "I'm trusting God; He supplies my needs." I continued my prayer of affirmation as I drove to work that morning. Suddenly it occurred to me that I could trust God entirely because He is all good! This truth meant a great deal to me—so much, in fact, that by the time I parked the car for another day's work, I was entirely well.
I am deeply grateful to Mrs. Eddy, the revelator of Christian Science, for making plain the Christ, Truth, that heals.
Mooresville, Indiana
