MANY YEARS AGO, I began to notice that the eyesight in one of my eyes was deteriorating. At first I was alarmed and really prayed, claiming my spirituality and unbreakable relation to God—but more from a standpoint of fear than conviction. Although my vision in that eye continued to dim, I still had some vision there. So I sort of got used to the condition and began to ignore it.
Finally one night, I found myself thinking that I didn't really need to worry about my eye. If I went blind in it, I was sure I could get by on one eye until I died, and then I would get new eyes! It was as though there was someone else in the room thinking totally nutty thoughts. I was like, "Excuse me? What did you just think?"
This really was a big wake-up call. In Science and Health Mary Baker Eddy wrote, "The recognition of Spirit and of infinity comes not suddenly here or hereafter." And in the next paragraph: "Existence continues to be a belief of corporeal sense until the Science of being is reached" (pp. 76–77).
This helps to explain why we shouldn't trust death to bring us new life and why living in eternal life now is a good idea. So I began to refute the belief that death could provide a solution, or that I needed to continue to experience this situation any longer. I also asked a Christian Science practitioner to help me get on top of the fear, which at that moment seemed pretty intense.
Then an opportunity opened up for me to take a trip to the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec, Canada, with a friend. She was doing the driving, and I was grateful because as we drove north and entered new territory, it became obvious that the difficulty was more advanced than I'd realized. While I was commuting along familiar roads, the deterioration in my vision was less apparent. Now I really had to come to grips with it.
I especially love Soul, one of the synonyms Mrs. Eddy gave for God. The thought came to me to insist on seeing beauty, perfection, joy, goodness, and other spiritual qualities. Also to be grateful and rejoice in anything good, however small. I did this with fervor, although there were times when I was still afraid.
If you've been to the Gaspe Peninsula, you'll know that it isn't difficult to see beauty there, and each turn of the road seemed to open up new examples of loveliness. Also, wherever we went it seemed that people were especially kind. But a crucial moment came when we got to the town of Sainte-Flavie, where there was (and I hope still is) an art work called, in English, "The Great Gathering," by Marcel Gagnon. At the time when I was there, he had made about 80 cement figures—of people, men, women, children—and sheep. They are standing on the edge of the sea—in fact, some are in the water. Their faces exhibit all kinds of emotion: doubt, confusion, intensity, gladness, and so forth. And they are looking at a Christ figure. It is much like a representation of the Sermon on the Mount in some ways, although I didn't see any signs that there was an overtly religious message connected with it.
I can't explain exactly what happened to me there except that I felt the presence of Christ. It was a very deep experience. It wasn't that this was an especially holy place, but that all my prayers came together as I thought about Jesus, his ministry, and the Sermon on the Mount. There was what might be called a "convergence of good" that told me I was healed. And although the physical condition didn't yield instantly, I was in fact healed. A few days later, I realized that I was seeing normally. The next time I had my eyes checked for eyeglasses, the doctor said they were totally fine. I have never had a return of that problem.
One of the big lessons I learned during that time was the importance of claiming that I (and everyone) live in eternal Life now. This changes one's perspective totally. Instead of fearing that there will be too little time, there is a continuity of life. Instead of neglecting problems, there's also more incentive to get after them promptly, because one isn't waiting for a future time to get to eternal life. Even when the material senses may be arguing that mortality is the only outcome, it's important to look at life as a great continuity, a continuing unfoldment of divine Life, and demand that this is what is happening every moment.
DRACUT, MASSACHUSETTS, US
