Last year on a trip to Paris, my husband and I both woke up one morning with the symptoms of food poisoning. My first concern was for my husband's two teenage brothers, who were traveling with us, because we had all eaten the same food the previous night. I began to pray. The thought came to me that, no matter what the circumstances, God, who is good, never requires His creation to be sick.
I thought about this statement from Science and Health: "The fact is, food does not affect the absolute Life of man, and this becomes self-evident, when we learn that God is our Life" (p. 388). Knowing that this was true for all men and women, I concluded that we were surrounded by God and reasoned that there was no material condition that could speak to us or grab our attention in any way. God alone spoke to us, and this was how we found truth, the reality about ourselves and God.
About an hour later the older boy came to our hotel room feeling energetic and ready for the day. I was grateful to see that he was completely well. His younger brother was fine, too. That evening, however, the younger boy said he had begun to suffer from the same symptoms that my husband and I were experiencing. We called a family member at home, who assured us she would contact his parents and ask a Christian Science practitioner to pray for us. As I prayed about the situation, I thought about this boy's innocence and the idea that God created him to be joyous and enthusiastic, not miserable and sick.
