A few weeks after my son was born, I heard that a friend's son had contracted scarlet fever. A short time later, my ten-year-old daughter developed a rash and a fever. I was filled with fear, both for my daughter and for the new baby. I reached out to God for some thought that would break through my fear.
Within a day, my daughter's fever and rash disappeared. And the baby didn't get sick.
After a few hours of prayer and study, I read this sentence in Science and Health: "God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis" (p. 258). Although I was still having a hard time overcoming my fear of scarlet fever, it was clear to me that both these children were immortal ideas of God, and that nothing could harm or stop their lives. Within a day, my daughter's fever and rash disappeared. And the baby didn't get sick.
Later, when my son was about nine months old, he woke up in the night, feverish, and with spots on his face and body. Again, I was frightened. I called a Christian Science practitioner to pray for us. The practitioner talked to me so calmly and lovingly that it helped lift my fear.
After I got off the phone, I wanted to feel the immensity of God's power. I prayed, and somewhere in the midst of my deep prayers for this child, I realized that I had been extremely upset by news reports about the dangers of germ warfare. I turned to God for an answer to this concern, and the answer I got was that evil is unreal. I saw how important it was for me to acknowledge and understand this.
I calmed down immediately, and began to feel that everything was under God's control. I kept praying, and wrote down affirmations of God's power and denials of evil's apparent power. By early morning, the baby's fever was gone, and only a few spots were left. Within 24 hours, all the spots had disappeared.
All three of my children are happy, healthy, and active. It's a joy to raise them with the effective and beautiful truths of Christian Science.
Glen Arbor, Michigan
