When I was a child, and before I knew of Christian Science, my mother passed on quite suddenly. Stunned, I refused to return to Sunday School. I told my father that if God were so cruel as to take my mother from me, I no longer wanted to learn about Him. My sister, the eldest child in our large family, had become a student of Christian Science. She lovingly took me aside and, in terms that I could easily grasp, she shared what she had learned of God from Mrs. Eddy's teachings. She explained that God is infinite Life. She told me that God is our true Father-Mother, the source of all the warm, tender mothering qualities as well as the strong, protective fathering qualities. I was receptive to this explanation, and the pain of loss was lessened through my new understanding of God. The following Sunday I was enrolled in the Christian Science Sunday School. I will never cease to be grateful for the love, wisdom, intelligence, and generosity of spirit expressed by each of my Sunday School teachers.
Later on my sister stated that death is an illusion and that life goes on eternally for every individual. She also assured me that God was continuing to care for our mother, just as He was caring for us. My freedom from the grief and misunderstanding that had burdened me was wonderful.
My first physical healing based on a spiritualization of thought was of periodic earaches. Though at one point the pain was severe, I refused the material help offered by my father and stepmother. Eventually they called my sister, who came home from the office to help me. She was quick to recognize that I needed to rid thought of resentment, toward my stepmother in particular. She reminded me that my stepmother was doing the best she knew how to do, and was motivated by love. I was encouraged to see this relative and everyone else in their true and perfect being as God's reflection. When I obediently relaxed and was still, and allowed these truths to bring enlightenment and renewal, the abscess broke and drained, and I was permanently healed of earaches. I give sole credit to God for this healing.
When my husband and I were engaged to be married, he listened attentively to what I told him of Science. Then, because of certain circumstances, his attitude hardened toward Christian Science, and he asked me never to speak of it again. After our marriage I kept my Science books out of his sight, and I began my daily study only after he'd left for the office.
As our first son neared the age of two, and I was expecting another child, I asked my husband to choose a Sunday School for the boy. After remaining quiet for some time, my husband said that he'd given the question serious consideration. He added that he could make no better choice for our children than the Christian Science Sunday School. That day was one of the most joyous of my life. The following week, when the youngster became two, he was enrolled in the Sunday School. As the children were growing up, every week my husband made it a practice to drive them to and from Sunday School.
Class instruction in this Science and active membership in branch churches have proved enriching. I've observed that the length of time we've been studying Christian Science need not define our spiritual advancement. What does determine it is our receptivity to the healing truth that Christ Jesus lived and taught, and which Mrs. Eddy so clearly explains in her writings. How grateful I am to have had this beautiful, applicable Science during the years of rearing our children.
When our younger son was over a year old, he became ill and wanted only to remain in his crib or to be held. I prayed to purify my thought by acknowledging the true spiritual nature of our son as God's perfect child, whole and free of discord. My consciousness was imbued with love, and I embraced the whole world in my prayer.
My husband became afraid and had a doctor look at the boy. An X-ray confirmed the doctor's diagnosis of bilateral mastoiditis. Immediately I denied this lie of the material senses as powerless. Buoyed by an awareness of the youngster's spiritual innocency and a conviction in the healing efficacy of Christian Science, I asked my husband if he would wait one more day before agreeing to surgery. Because he'd witnessed previous scientific healings, he decided to wait.
When we arrived home, I phoned a Christian Science practitioner, who agreed to pray for our son. Together we acknowledged God's omnipotence and omnipresence, and reviewed such passages from the Bible as Psalm 103, where it says of God that He "healeth all thy diseases" (v. 3). My thought was thoroughly illumined by these truths. In the morning the child climbed out of his crib, came downstairs, and asked for breakfast. He was perfectly well! That day I learned that divine Mind is the only real lawgiver.
One of the beautiful synonyms for God that Mrs. Eddy has given us in Science and Health is Principle. Relying on the operation of divine Principle has resulted in the return of lost articles. As I've wanted nothing that belonged to someone else, so it's seemed natural to expect that no one would want anything that belonged to me. I've realized that man's true selfhood is one of integrity, devoid of envy, jealousy, or covetousness. Several times when my purse, containing large amounts of cash, was believed lost, it was returned intact through this understanding trust in divine Principle.
Most of all I am grateful that Christian Science has given me the basis for a satisfying life. I never feel alone, for in every instance I can confidently turn to God in prayer and feel His care. I have truly learned that "with God all things are possible" (Matt. 19:26).
Fort Lauderdale Florida
