As a child, I had severe headaches from time to time. They would leave me incapacitated for hours. My only relief was to fall asleep and hope the headache would be gone when I woke up. One afternoon, the summer before I began seventh grade, I felt a headache starting. I decided to put into practice what I'd been learning in a Christian Science Sunday School. I remembered hearing there that if I filled my thoughts with my oneness with God, there would be no place for anything bad, including this headache.
This was the first time I prayed about an illness without help from an adult.
Then, I repeated "the scientific statement of being" (see Science and Health, p. 468), which I knew by heart. This statement explains that reality is spiritual, not material. I focused on the meaning of each sentence and applied the meaning to myself. I caught a glimpse of the fact that I'm not made of matter; I'm spiritual, made in God's likeness. That likeness is completely good, just as God is, and never subject to sickness of any sort. I thought deeply about this, and within a few minutes the headache was gone. Since then I've been almost free of headaches. If I ever get one, I affirm that God's harmony is all there is. And the headache quickly leaves.
