Once when I was ill, the sense of fever was so great it felt as though I were on fire. At some point my five-year-old daughter climbed up on my bed and rested my head on her lap. She said, “Mommy, I’m going to comfort you. I’m just going to comfort you.” She said nothing more but just sat silently for a few moments before returning to her play. I was startled because she hadn’t even noticed the feverish heat I was suffering from. I realized I could be just as free of fear and fever as she was, and it was a turning point in this healing.
In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “Destroy fear, and you end fever” (p. 376). I believe that’s what happened when my daughter came to my aid. In her childlike innocence and love, she hadn’t felt the least twinge of fear, and that lifted my own thoughts.
Once the fever subsided, however, other symptoms remained, and in addition I was left with a peculiar sense of desolation—feeling empty, cheerless, and devoid of purpose. I dropped my precious Bible study and don’t even recall trying to pray. I was just “out of it.” I didn’t even want to receive phone calls or answer the door. This mental darkness hovered like a black cloud for several days.
