During January 2012, I was in Costa Rica, living in shared housing while volunteering for a sea turtle conservation project. One afternoon, one of my colleagues complained of a stomachache multiple times for more than an hour. He eventually attributed it to some salsa and chips we had shared earlier. After that comment, I started to get a knot in my stomach, too. I realized I needed to pray to protect myself.
Because our work was mostly at night, I had a lot of time during the day for prayer, and for study of the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy. I recalled that the Christian Science Bible Lesson that week included the story of Daniel and the three Hebrew boys who were brought to King Nebuchadnezzar’s court to be fed and nurtured with the king’s food and wine (see Daniel 1:1–20).
However, they did not want to eat the king’s nonkosher food and wine, and they convinced their keeper to give them a ten-day trial of eating vegetables and water. After those ten days, they were “fairer and fatter” than the boys who had eaten the king’s food, showing that the type of food they ate did not affect their well-being.
I also had been very aware during this time that the Lord’s Prayer is really a prayer for everyone, indicated by the use of the pronouns “our,” “we,” and “us” (see Matthew 6:9–13).
So, my prayer at the kitchen counter that afternoon was a silent retreat into feeling God’s all-encompassing love. I affirmed that food has no power over health, and I knew this was true not just for me, but for all of us.
Although I wasn’t praying specifically for my colleague, nor had he asked me to pray (he was not a Christian Scientist), within 20 or 30 seconds he unknowingly startled my prayerful reverie by exclaiming, “My stomachache just disappeared!” Then I realized that mine had disappeared as well. We immediately prepared dinner and got ready for the night’s work without any more ill effects.
I feel that the time I had spent in study and prayer before this incident prepared me for a quick demonstration of the truth. This healing is an example of two statements in Science and Health: “By the truthful arguments you employ, and especially by the spirit of Truth and Love which you entertain, you will heal the sick” (p. 418), and, “In the scientific relation of God to man, we find that whatever blesses one blesses all, …” (p. 206).
I am so grateful to have witnessed this healing, to learn the power of silent prayer and the practical healing truths from the study of Christian Science.
Anchorage, Alaska, US
I am the colleague mentioned in the above testimony. What I experienced was relief from a few days of sharp pain in my stomach, and this relief coincided with Nancy’s nice thoughts. Coincidence or not, it was a moment of connection and I accepted her thoughts openly.
It seems to me that the power of healing rests in accepting what we do not understand. I have stayed open to all possibilities and perspectives, and I have always been sensitive to the idea that the knowledge of what we do not currently understand is the most important knowledge we could have. I believe that the great power that exists within the mind is less understood than anything else in the entire universe. Yet I know that there is incredible power there. This power is connected to healing, and maybe someday we will all understand how that works.
