I was bedridden and was seeking healing through prayer, which I had found to be reliable and effective. I considered the possibility of calling a Christian Science nurse for assistance in addition to the metaphysical treatment I was having from a Christian Science practitioner. But I thought that if I was supposed to be proving the truth that God is All, that He made man perfect in His likeness, and that disease is therefore not real, why would a Christian Science nurse be needed? Wouldn’t that be giving in to the belief in sickness?
But the practitioner pointed out to me that the Christian Science nurse is provided for in the Manual of The Mother Church (see Mary Baker Eddy, p. 49). She said, in essence, that I had three little children in my care, and that while she would continue to pray for me, the support of a Christian Science nurse was needed. And so I did call one, and she came.
Immediately all the fear and anxiety left. A sense of order came into the house. For the first time in a week I slept for more than 15 minutes. The Christian Science nurse cared for me and the children. She cooked. She cleaned house. She fed the children. She read to them and to me from the Christian Science Pastor—the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy. She even sang hymns for us. She helped me get in and out of bed when needed. She bathed me. I no longer felt I had to go it alone or do everything myself.
Also, the Christian Science nurse didn’t indulge in what was wrong or constantly ask me how I felt. She didn’t ask how long I had been like this. She expressed a calm, confident trust in God and in the truth of who I really was as His perfect spiritual idea. I no longer worried about what the neighbors thought or what family members who weren’t Christian Scientists believed. I felt supported in my choice of healing through prayer.
With all this wonderful help, I found I was more responsive to the prayers of the practitioner—to watch what thoughts I was taking in and not focus on the problem. I was better able to “stand porter at the door of thought,” as Mrs. Eddy counsels in Science and Health (p. 392). In a few short days I was well and out of bed and back to my usual duties.
I learned humility in accepting the help of a Christian Science nurse. I saw that it was not degrading but transforming. In agreeing to this God-inspired provision, I was admitting, in a sense, to what Christ Jesus said in attributing all that he did to God’s power and will: “I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5:30). And I was better able to demonstrate the truth of St. Paul’s affirmation, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). The unselfed, Christly love expressed in the work of the Christian Science nurse supported the powerful, prayerful treatment of the Christian Science practitioner, which resulted in healing.
Christian Science nurses have not only had training in “the practical wisdom necessary in a sick room;” they also have “a demonstrable knowledge of Christian Science practice” (Manual, p. 49). Christian Science nurses are a strong support for metaphysical healing. I often think of their work in relation to the support that Aaron and Hur gave to Moses when his hands (responsibilities) were heavy. They stood by him, one on each side, and held his hands up until Amelak was defeated (see Exodus 17:11–13). Steadfast love that defeats all that is unlike God reflects divine Love. It bears witness to the indestructibility of man as God’s spiritual idea and the powerlessness of anything that would deny God’s goodness and the harmony He maintains throughout His creation.
The Christian Science nurse affirms the dignity that God bestows on man as His image and likeness. His or her actions express that Godlike mental standpoint. The biblical account referred to above says of Moses, “and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.” The Christian Science nurse who came to my aid had a steady, uplifting, healing thought and provided the support I needed when I couldn’t do things for myself. I saw that the weakness I was experiencing was not a true part of my identity, and that all was actually well—and is well—under God’s government. I had never lost the ability to be healed, because I had never lost God or the spiritual wholeness and perfection that our loving Father-Mother God bestows on man.
I can’t be grateful enough for this experience and the realization that we are not alone. Christian Science healing is potent and merciful. Divine Love does care for our needs. And the provision in the Church Manual for the Christian Science nurse is practical, spiritually based evidence of that care.
