I love being a Christian Scientist. Let me tell you just one of the reasons why. About six years ago I was a secretary in a very busy office. The job was high pressured and I did a lot of overtime. I also felt that the other girls in the office were envious of my position. This situation prompted me to pray as I'd learned in Christian Science. Later, though, I started having chest pains and suffered from indigestion as well as constant pain in my left arm. At the same time, I was having family problems that made me feel cut off from love. I called a Christian Science practitioner, and we began to pray concerning these problems.
For a period of about four months the practitioner and I were in touch daily. During this time my daughter and I were shopping one Saturday in a big department store, when suddenly I felt tremendous pain in my chest. It hit me with such force that I had to sit down. I was totally terrified. I looked across the store and saw a public telephone, so I walked to it as calmly as possible and called the practitioner. I was so very grateful that the practitioner was at home. I told her about the severe pain in my chest and mentioned that it was difficult to breathe. She said for me to sing one of the hymns [from the Christian Science Hymnal] . When I asked her which one, she replied, "Whatever one comes to you." So I began quietly singing Hymn No. 268, which includes these words:
Our God is All-in-all,
His children cannot fear;
See baseless evil fall,
And know that God is here.
As I sang, it became much easier to breathe, and by the time I finished, the pain was gone. I felt so free. The practitioner talked to me some more, and then my daughter came and asked if she could buy a certain blouse. (She had been off in another part of the store while I had been talking to the practitioner.) I waved her away with "Yes." At that moment I was so elated just to be alive, I suppose she could have had anything in the store she'd asked for!
Had I really understood man's immunity from suffering as a child of God at that time, I could have saved myself further fear and pain. But because the experience still seemed so real to me, I mistakenly hung on to the belief of myself as a mortal—possibly having heart trouble. There were several testimonies I happened on at this time, in the Christian Science periodicals, telling about healings of heart conditions. Also it seemed as if all the hymns we sang in church had the word "heart" in them somewhere.
The practitioner had been telling me that the root of the problem was emotions, but I hadn't understood what she meant. My Christian Science teacher also indicated that the difficulty was emotional in nature. It wasn't until I learned that, in reality, man is governed by God, not by emotions, that I really began to grow in my spiritual understanding.
After that I went for long walks in the evening, thinking about what I was learning. I realized with gratitude that even if the girls in the office were envious of my job, this had no power to hurt me. I also realized that these women could not be governed by envy because they too were expressions of Love. I saw that feeling cut off from love could not be possible, for man is ever at one with God, divine Love; and I began to see myself as God's perfect expression, not as a human failure. Also, I discovered that man doesn't "get" love or "lose" love, because Love is what he expresses. I realized that I was the child of Love—bathed in Love, living and moving in Love. I began examining the spiritual qualities man expresses as God's child. This I did for several evenings, and then I noticed that the chest pains and indigestion were completely gone.
Another problem was worked out when I recognized that my only responsibility as God's reflection was in reflecting Him, not in being pressured or burdened in a job. I knew that God was the only source of action and that I reflected this action. As I let go of false responsibilities, the pain in the left arm ceased.
I suppose the most difficult part was in overcoming resentment. (I had not received a raise in pay during the three and one half years I had worked for this company.) However, the picture of being underpaid and overworked was reversed when I learned that God, as man's only employer and Judge, metes out perfect justice. But I left that company and went to work elsewhere. On this new job, I have experienced harmony abundantly and have had a number of raises. I've also felt no pressure.
This total, beautiful healing was a great growing time for me. It taught me that thought controls the body and that our real job is to spiritualize thought. Many times at the office I walked up and down the stairs repeating aloud Mrs. Eddy's words from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (p. 393): "Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man." Mostly I prayed to be loving. I even composed a song about Love that uplifted me at the time. It went like this:
Whatever you do, oh, do it with love,
And love whatever you do.
Whatever you speak, oh, speak it with love,
And Love will speak back to you.
Whatever you think, oh, think it with love,
And Love will change your view.
Whatever you do, just do it with love,
And Love will do things for you.
I am so very grateful that I was able to stand with God for full healing of this condition. I don't know how many times a day fear told me I was going to die if I didn't go to the hospital, and that I had better quit fooling around with Christian Science. But I wouldn't listen. The suggestions about having medical treatment finally stopped coming to me when I stopped listening to them! I simply declared I was not going to a hospital regardless of the consequences, because I was fully trusting Christian Science for healing. As a result, I never went to a hospital, never had a lengthy recuperation period, and never even missed one day's work.
My daughter's faith in Christian Science was greatly strengthened by her seeing this demonstration. Also, since this healing, emotional bombs have dropped in my life, but not one single time has there been even a hint of the pain or the other physical problems. By this, and because my thinking was changed, I know my healing is complete. I also know that the problem cannot return, because we can't unlearn what we truly understand.
See why I love Christian Science? My gratitude to Almighty God knows no bounds, and my daily prayer is to glorify Him to the very best of my ability.
Midland, Texas
