It is with much gratitude and joy that I share a recent healing I experienced through faith and trust in God’s care and love for me and all mankind.
During the month of January it is my practice to gather documents and records to submit to my accountant to prepare for tax returns. I had finished the project, and the plan was to go to the accounting office and call them when I arrived at their complex so they could come and get the documents from me.
As I was driving, my right hand was grasping the steering wheel, but it suddenly slipped off of it. I tried grasping the wheel again with both hands, but each time the right hand kept slipping off. When I arrived at the complex, I called the accounting office on my cell phone. When they answered, to my surprise, my speech was distorted and incoherent. They could not understand me, but seemed to know who was calling. Unsure about what seemed to be going on, I hung up the call and decided to drive back to my home. I started praying right away, establishing in my thought the truth of my identity as God’s child.
While driving home, I received a call and pulled to the curb to answer it. It was one of my sons; the accounting office had called him. I was unable to speak coherently, but he asked that I find a place to park, as he and his brother were coming to take me home. I found a parking lot and was able to help my son understand where I was.
When my sons arrived they asked if I wanted to go to the hospital or have Christian Science help. I found it difficult to understand what I was experiencing, but my sons thought I’d had a stroke. Though my speech was faulty, I could think clearly, and I told them I wanted Christian Science treatment. One of them made arrangements for me to go to a Christian Science nursing facility, while the other called a Christian Science practitioner for prayerful help.
As I prayed myself, a Bible passage from Second Timothy came to thought: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (1:7). Another familiar idea, from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, also came to thought: “The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea,—perfect God and perfect man,—as the basis of thought and demonstration” (p. 259). I declared, “And I am that perfect man.” As my son drove me to the care facility, he was also declaring the truth to me the entire time.
When I checked in at the facility, my speech was still incoherent. I was grateful to know that the practitioner was praying for me, and one of the Christian Science nurses spent the entire afternoon and early evening voicing the truth of God’s love for me. After I retired for the night, I was awake most of the night praying. For the most part I prayed with “the scientific statement of being” (see Science and Health, p. 468), and First John 3:1: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” I was declaring my identity as God’s image and likeness, His beloved child inseparable from good, God.
The next morning, a Tuesday, I awakened early, dressed myself, and sat in a comfortable chair. I began praying and identifying myself correctly. I prayed again with the idea of “perfect God and perfect man,” and when I declared this truth out loud, I found that my speech was normal!
The joy and gratitude I felt that my speech was normal and coherent were enormous. There were no other issues, either. I called my sons and we all expressed gratitude. I emailed the practitioner to report the good news and share the healing, and to express gratitude for the prayerful support. I decided I would leave the care facility the next day, Wednesday.
This healing took place over a year ago, and there has been no recurrence of the problem. It has meant much to me and my family. I am so grateful for God’s law and His loving care, which is always present with me and all of us, and to have witnessed God’s presence and goodness.
Barbara Bryant
Palos Verdes Estates, California, US
