Although I have had numerous healings through prayer, two experiences that occurred in the mid-'90s are very special to me. The first took place on a Saturday morning. My wife and I were working in our store, when suddenly I felt ill. I was overwhelmed with pain shooting through my back. I stopped working and sat down. Then I briefly lost consciousness. After I came to, my wife called a Christian Science practitioner, while I sat in a stockroom and quietly turned to God. I had to stay at the store, because I couldn't drive, and my wife couldn't leave. In between customers, she came to be with me and share the inspiration she was getting from her prayers.
I wondered what the physical cause of this problem was. Then I remembered that Science and Health talks about cause and effect as mental, not physical (see p. 114). I realized that if I wanted to see a change in the situation, I needed to quiet my fear and stop looking for a material cause. This was challenging, because the pain wasn't something I could just ignore. But I found that when I stopped looking for a cause, I didn't feel as afraid. I prayed specifically, using the explanation of man found in Science and Health, which includes this statement: "Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique" (p. 475). Each statement I declared as specifically true about myself. As I continued to pray this way, the pain disappeared, and I felt well. By Monday I was totally free.
As we walked out, we were met by rescuers.
