This testimony is long overdue. Ever since I was three years old, I have had the privilege of Christian Science as my only physician. The usual childhood diseases were healed quickly, including measles, scarlet fever, and chickenpox. The effects of accidents were also overcome, most times instantaneously. I was a very active "tomboy," so healings included falls from trees, from gymnasium equipment at school, and accidents involving sports activities. Most healings were quick, but sometimes more earnest dedication and prayerful growth were required.
One of these times was a healing I had of severe abdominal pain. Several times when I was in school, I would experience pains that seemed to resemble what I had heard described as appendicitis. Each time, with the prayers of my mother, the pain would quickly disappear. When I was in college, one night a severe attack came. I was very fearful, but as soon as I reached my mother by telephone, she reassured me of my heavenly Father's infinite love and care for me and assured me of my perfection as His image. She reminded me of a statement in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: "A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive" (p. 463). I went back to my room, and soon all the pain completely disappeared. But I remained fearful about this claim, as I thought that anything that was said to require surgery was somehow more frightening than the other difficulties we had overcome.
Some years later, when I was in the late stages of pregnancy with my first child, the abdominal pains recurred. I was very frightened, as I did not see how this could be handled while I was pregnant. This time, however, I prayed to see that something not created or sent by God had never had a place in my thought or in my body. As I continued to pray to see the unreality of the abdominal pains, the thought came that this illusion was no more difficult to heal than a cold, since both are part of the lie that man could be mortal. Man is spiritual, and this Truth, understood, was healing me—revealing my original perfection. This simple thought lighted up my consciousness and completely removed the fear. The pain left, never to return.
