Before our first son was born I made arrangements to have the delivery at home with the attendance of a qualified midwife. When the time came, however, I seemed unable to forward the birth. Finally the midwife said that she would no longer be responsible for the case unless I was taken to the hospital. The child was born there.
I felt I had not done enough in the prayerful preparation before the birth but had left it all to the Christian Science practitioner whom I had asked to help me through prayer. I felt it would always be too late to feel right about the birth. Nevertheless, I am convinced that both my son and I came through the experience safely because of the conscientious prayers of the practitioner.
A year and a half later I became pregnant again, but early in the pregnancy I had a miscarriage. Serious physical effects of the miscarriage were completely healed through Science, and I prayed all the more earnestly in the following months.
When I realized about a year later that I was pregnant again, I became overjoyed. Never had I had such a happy time at work as during those months, mainly because I took every opportunity to put into practice the concept of spiritual birth, which I was learning about through my study of Christian Science. I saw each assignment as an idea that was to be born. The prayerful work I did with the practitioner whom I had asked to help me was extremely inspiring. I tried to be obedient to all the spiritual truths I studied in the Bible and in Science and Health. In the best way I knew, I took my child to Egypt; that is, I spiritualized my thoughts about the birth in every possible way.
A few nights before the birth, I woke up feeling mentally unprepared for the delivery. The earlier experiences came to mind. Then I turned to God for comfort and thought of the story from the Bible when the prophet Elisha was surrounded by enemies and asked God to open the eyes of his servant, who then saw that "the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." I prayed to God "to open my eyes," so that I could behold the truths needed to defeat my fears. I soon realized that all of the horses and chariots of fire that surrounded Elisha were there to protect him and his mission, and I saw that each idea has a special function to fulfill. I realized that the baby and I were also upheld in safety by God, and that the "battle" wasn't mine at all. I became completely at peace and went back to sleep.
The delivery of our second son took place at home with the attendance of a registered midwife and a Christian Science nurse. It was quick, joyous, painless, and extremely timely for everybody concerned.
The total victory of this experience came a year and a half later. One night, while I was working to get a better understanding of the true nature of children through studying references from the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings, I came across the following sentence in Miscellaneous Writings: "The prominent laws which forward birth in the divine order of Science, are these: 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me;' 'Love thy neighbor as thyself.'" This to me meant that it is never too late to forward birth! I saw that it would never be too late to forward the birth of the true nature of our elder son, which has been and is and always will be the perfect reflection of God. At that moment I felt indescribable hope. Resentment and guilt over the past finally yielded to a sense of great promise and peace.
My gratitude for Christian Science is unbounded. In this case I am particularly grateful for the support of the practitioner who so faithfully and conscientiously stood by me, and for the glimpse I gained through these experiences that God never fails.
Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England
