ONE MORNING IN FEBRUARY 2006, while my husband and I were visiting my youngest daughter, I found I was unable to move my legs. Later in the day I lost the use of my hands, and my speech also became slurred. My daughter called a Christian Science practitioner, who came to the house. The practitioner's words were very comforting as he reassured me of this Biblical truth: "In him [God] we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28). I understood this to mean that my true identity was in Spirit and therefore entirely spiritual, not in a physical body. Therefore I couldn't be susceptible to material conditions. My oldest daughter, a medical nurse, an RN, came to the house and said she thought I'd had a series of strokes. Nevertheless, at no time was I afraid or in pain.
From a practical standpoint, it seemed wise for me to be where I could receive professional Christian Science care, so my family made arrangements for me to go to a nearby Christian Science nursing facility. From the moment I arrived, I felt wonderfully supported by the love and efficient skill of the Christian Science nurses. My daughter, the RN, said she felt so much love expressed there that she felt OK about leaving me. My husband, who is a Christian Scientist, was also very supportive. He said he was sure I would have a complete healing and expressed this view to other family members.
Grateful for the peace of my surroundings, I studied the Bible and Science and Health constantly. I also gained much inspiration from reading Mary Baker Eddy's other writings. The practitioner prayed daily for me, and I prayed on my own, in particular with a passage from Psalms: "Be still, and know that I am God" (46:10). This verse gave me much encouragement. God is the only communicator, it told me. Don't listen to mortal mind—the opposite of the Mind who is God—and its false beliefs of disease and incapacity. Divine Love is all and governs all. I realized that I didn't have to figure out what I didn't know, but could trust God's infinite ability. I could thereby prove what I did know: God expresses only the perfection of all that He has made—including me. Through affirming the spiritual sense of creation, I could hold my thoughts to that view of perfection.
