When our son was just a toddler, he had a healing of a severe burn. It was lunchtime, and I was bringing our food from the kitchen to the dining room table. I had just set a pot of hot tea on the table at a distance that I was sure was well out of my son’s reach. Unfortunately, it wasn’t, and he reached out and grabbed the tea cozy covering the tea pot and pulled on it, spilling the entire pot of hot tea down his front.
I was very afraid and focused only on getting immediate help for my son. My first instinct was to call the Christian Science practitioner who had helped me through prayer during my pregnancies, which I did. I had seen healings in Christian Science throughout my life and knew that Christian Science treatment was the best and most effective remedy I had. I was quickly able to reach the practitioner, and while I don’t remember what she told me specifically, her calm and loving manner helped to steady my thoughts and lessen my fear. I also called my husband, who came right home from work.
All this time I did my best to soothe my son and make him as comfortable as possible. As I rocked him, I prayed silently and out loud, affirming his identity as God’s spiritual and perfect child, untouched by matter. In the textbook of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy states in her answer to the question “What is man?” “Man is spiritual and perfect; and because he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so understood in Christian Science” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 475). I knew this was my son’s real state of being, despite appearances to the contrary.
