Lasting relief

IN MY EARLY TEENS I had an accident that tore and displaced the ligaments around my spine. This left the spine not quite straight. I had a lot of pain at the time, and over the years it gradually became a daily dull, but exhausting, ache. For some years I wore a steel corset for support, which helped, but didn't give me total relief from the pain. The doctors and physiotherapists ultimately said they were unable to help me further.

Some years after I was married and my daughter was grown, I began to study Christian Science. I asked for treatment from more than one Christian Science practitioner at different times. But I did not find complete healing. The most I hoped for was that God would help me to bear the pain so that I was not a trouble to others. As I felt He was doing this, I was satisfied.

Then, about a year ago, I read an interview with a practitioner in this magazine that caused me to think even more deeply about my own case. The practitioner described how she'd been asked to pray for a patient who had suffered with a chronic condition for many years and had been to numerous practitioners, but still hadn't found healing. As the practitioner began to think about the case, she considered the sincerity and power of the other practitioners' prayers, and she realized this was a great case to take on—because essentially, it was impossible for this patient not to have been healed. She acknowledged the healing work that had already been done, and saw that the patient had, in spiritual fact, never even been touched by this condition. And on that very day, the patient was healed. (See "The adventure of healing: A conversation with Patricia Hyatt," February 2005, p. 14.)