Years ago, after I became engaged while on a summer holiday with my boyfriend and his family, I began suffering with symptoms of deep congestion in the lungs. I brushed this aside as just a common cold, but by Christmas, when I was visiting my parents, my dad expressed concern about the wrenching, hacking sound of my cough and other frightening symptoms. He asked me to please go see a doctor. Because I had experienced healings through my study of Christian Science, it had not occurred to me to have this condition checked by a doctor. But out of respect for my dad, who said he did not want to “give away a sick daughter,” I told him I would take care of it.
I immediately called a Christian Science practitioner to pray for me. When I hung up the telephone after our initial conversation, the thought came to me, “You have tuberculosis.” I had to look up the word in the dictionary, as I was not sure what it was. I called the practitioner back and told her, “I think I might have tuberculosis.” She replied, “The good news is that Christian Science has already healed that disease.” She was referring to the testimonies of healing published in the Christian Science periodicals and in the chapter Fruitage in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
For the next three months, I worked with the practitioner daily. Science and Health says, “Colds, coughs, and contagion are engendered solely by human theories” (p. 220), and we set out to understand that statement. I can’t recall the specific truths the practitioner shared during our conversations, but I do recall her dedication to healing and the love she expressed. Every morning her metaphysical treatments buoyed me and enabled me to keep going to work.
