WHEN I WAS DIAGNOSED with a hernia, the physician said surgery was necessary to avoid complications that could arise if treatment were delayed. In spite of his predictions and the fact that I was still new to the practice of Christian Science, I felt strongly that I wanted to rely on this Science for healing. I'd just had a wonderful healing through prayer after an accident at work and was confident that the same kind of spiritual — and physical — regeneration would follow in this case, too.
I prayed about the condition for several years, all the while maintaining my faith that "with God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27). This faith helped sustain me when discouragement would set in, and it kept me on a spiritual track: I felt I was making progress, even though there was no physical change. I was also grateful to recognize that although things didn't seem to be improving, the difficulty was not following the course the physician had outlined. No complications arose.
One day, as I was working outside on my farm, I felt impelled to go inside and study a statement in one of Mary Baker Eddy's writings. It reads, in part, "In Science, divine Love alone governs man ..." (The Manual of the Mother Church, p. 40). I thought, "Well, I know all this!" I was tempted to throw the book down and not go on reading. But the thought that I should continue reading wouldn't go away. So I said to myself, "Well, it won't hurt you to read a little more," and I did. The same sentence goes on to say,"... and a Christian Scientist reflects the sweet amenities of Love, in rebuking sin, in true brotherliness, charitableness, and forgiveness."
