It was 1952. We didn't practice any religion when my mother came down with cancer of the uterus. The doctors told her it was incurable and there was no hope. But a person who knew about Christian Science visited us and gave my mother the book Science and Health. My mom started reading it and became very interested in the new ideas the book presented. The healing was instantaneous. Within four days, she went to visit an informal Christian Science group. There they showered her with encouragement and gave her more literature to read. One week later, she realized all the symptoms had disappeared. She could get up, bathe on her own, move freely. After that, early every morning she would sit with the Bible and Science and Health to study them. Since she lived in La Habana, she began to attend the services regularly.
With mom's healing, the entire family, bit by bit, also began to study Christian Science. I lived with my family in Bayamo, 16 hours by bus from La Habana. I became interested to know how this healing had happened. I began to read Science and Health and the Bible. I soon realized that everything in my home was changing for the better. When a problem came up, I would strive to apply what I was learning, and the solution would come about. I would speak to people in need, and in my own way I explained how they could pray—and they obtained good results. Then we formed an informal Christian Science group in Bayamo. We held services in my living room.
There was a lot of enthusiasm in this group that my mom and I began. We talked to neighbors and friends, and months later we had 22 people. Many healings took place. I remember a farmer who one day came to visit my mom in my house. Among other things, he said, "For more than 20 years I've suffered with a pain that won't let go. I've tried everything, even witch doctors, but nothing has been able to heal me." The next day, a Wednesday, he came to our meeting looking happy, and during the testimonies he said, "I can't leave without telling you what happened. Ever since I came in here I felt good, and when the reading began, the pain that imprisoned me for so long left."
Two weeks later we found out that this gentleman had fallen off a horse and struck his shoulder on a rock. He came to our meeting with his arm in a sling. He told us that he hadn't been to a doctor because he wanted to know if Christian Science would heal him. He was afraid to remove the cloth where he rested his arm. We spoke to him that he was a child of God, a divine and perfect idea.
When he came back for the next service he said, "For two or three days I've felt perfectly fine, but people are recommending that I have an X-ray taken." We comforted him and told him he could do it because he was like a new man since he had found out about Christian Science. After the examination, the doctor told him that there had been a fracture there, but now it had knit together.
We continued to have examples of how Christian Science brought healings, and this strengthened our group.
Christian Science has expanded in Cuba during the last few years. Today it's unusual for any part of the country not to receive El Heraldo.
Some years later I moved to La Habana, and my mom and I went to what was then Second Church.
I can say that my mom had a complete healing of cancer because she lived almost 20 more years after that hopeless diagnosis. She dedicated her whole life to Christian Science. She was a natural practitioner, and everyone sought her out as such.
In 1998, I wanted to take class instruction in Christian Science. I felt very attracted to the public healing practice, because when someone felt ill and asked me for help, sometimes before we finished talking, everything was already well. That's why I thought, That's my path! I am always more and more certain that I made the right choice.
Here in Cuba my public practice of Christian Science keeps me very active. Many people call me—phone calls all day long. For the most part, they are from people who know about Christian Science through El Heraldo de la Ciencia Cristiana but who have never come to La Habana. The knowledge of Christian Science has expanded in Cuba during the last few years. Today it's unusual for any part of the country not to receive El Heraldo. People call the church and ask that we mail them magazines.
Nowadays the public practice of Christian Science plays the most important role in my life. I've also realized the importance of praying for all humanity and for oneself.
I lead a calm life, in peace, without limitations. I live spiritual liberty every day, and that's why I've never felt like a victim. Life is a mirror of thought. When thought changes from a material to a spiritual basis, everything changes for the better. This way of thinking leads to a happy, free, calm life. Christian Science is wonderful! It's the greatest thing I've ever discovered in my life. Everybody deserves it and has the right to find out about it.
