I WAS SPENDING A YEAR teaching in Vienna, Austria. One day while commuting home on the bus, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. It was difficult to walk, so I called my wife to come and help me home. As soon as we arrived at our apartment, I called a Christian Science practitioner for help through prayer. I am accustomed to finding healing through prayer, so prayer was the method I chose this time, too.
The pain kept me completely bedridden for a month, and during the next two months, I was able to go to the office only two days a week. I spent the rest of the time in bed—thinking, praying, and learning more about God. It was difficult to walk, and I was able to lie in bed for only a few minutes without having to move to a different position to try to relieve the pain. I didn't have a medical diagnosis, but it was clear that something was not working properly with my stomach. Over the next several months I lost a great deal of weight.
The practitioner and I talked by phone every day, and she never wavered, even when I was discouraged at times about the apparent lack of progress. She helped me to keep moving forward mentally and not only to hope for, but to expect, a complete healing.
