WHEN I WAS a newlywed, I made an appointment with a doctor's office to obtain a birth control device. Upon being examined for this purpose, the doctor informed me that he had discovered an internal growth. He strongly urged me to contact a hospital and schedule an appointment for an operation immediately, as he believed the condition was life-threatening. I thanked him for his concern and left the office.
When I arrived home I told my husband the alarming news. Like me, he is a lifelong Christian Scientist and he supported me in my decision to turn to God and Christian Science for healing. I phoned a Christian Science practitioner to pray with me. I first had to calm myself and get rid of the fear of the dreadful prognosis. I prayed with the practitioner over several days to regain my peace and trust in God and to know that God alone governed my life; that He was, in fact, my life; and is the only Life there is.
I prayed with this statement from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, "The way to extract error from mortal mind is to pour in truth through floodtides of Love" (p. 201). Within my prayers, I concentrated on pouring in truth—reiterating in my thinking the divine laws that governed me, and that I was created by God and therefore perfect and holy as His child. I refused to entertain any lie that would suggest abnormality as a part of my body or identity. I claimed the facts about my birthright: that God made me in his image and maintained me wholly good and spiritual, not material. This true and consistent identification was essential in obeying and honoring God by having "no other gods," as the Bible instructs.
