About ten years ago, I fell and injured my right wrist while I was ice skating with my family. I immediately began to pray for myself, and my wife also prayed for me. I thought about Mary Baker Eddy’s statement in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God’s unerring direction and thus bring out harmony” (p. 424).
I continued to pray for myself, but after three days my right hand was swollen and discolored, and I also couldn’t move my fingers. I decided to call a Christian Science practitioner to pray for me. I continued calling the practitioner every few days, and the practitioner kept praying. I began to notice gradual but consistent improvement in my hand and wrist.
However, about two weeks after the initial injury, my boss requested that I see a doctor. I explained I was praying for myself and experiencing gradual improvement daily. He replied that he couldn’t make me see a doctor, but that I couldn’t come to work the next day unless I did. I didn’t want to miss work, so I agreed to see a doctor the following day during my lunch hour. I asked a practitioner to pray for me during the doctor’s visit.
After taking X-rays, the doctor determined that two bones were broken in my wrist and that the bones were displaced and slightly misaligned. He said he would have recommended surgery, but since two weeks had elapsed, the bones had already started to heal. I explained that I was a Christian Scientist, and I was praying to heal the injury.
I didn’t have the bones set, nor did I have to wear a cast. The doctor did, however, give me a splint, which I wore only at work to allay the concerns of my boss. I was able to go running every day, relying only on prayer to protect my wrist.
When I went back to the doctor for final X-rays, he said I was healed but that the bones were still slightly misaligned and that one of the fractures might or might not completely fill in. I silently, prayerfully refused to accept that anything could stand in the way of complete healing. I thought about Christ Jesus healing the man with the withered hand. The Bible records Jesus saying to the man, “Stretch forth thy hand,” and then the account continues, “And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other” (Luke 6:10). Jesus knew the only power and presence was God, divine Mind, and I could, too. I never returned to see that doctor again, but I trusted in the healing power of the Christ, God’s spiritual idea.
In October 2017 I injured my right hand again after tripping over some tree branches. I prayed for myself and also called my wife to pray for me. Once again I thought about Mrs. Eddy’s statement in Science and Health about accidents being unknown to God. I also thought about this Bible verse: “The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly” (Psalms 118:16). These citations reminded me that God’s healing power is always at hand and that God, divine Love, is in control.
I prayed daily for myself and noticed improvement, but after five days my hand was still swollen and discolored, so, just like nine years earlier, my (new) boss asked me to see a doctor. I explained that I was taking good care of myself, that the hand was improving daily, and that nothing was hindering my ability to work, but he still asked me to see a doctor.
While driving to the doctor’s office and then in the waiting room, I thought about erasing any material record that the hand had ever been injured. At one time a practitioner had suggested that, whenever a problem or condition seems to have persisted and established a history, I could go back and revisit the first chapter of Genesis, where God creates us as “very good,” or as perfect. This is the eternal truth about us, which in reality has never changed.
Two X-rays were taken of the hand and wrist, and I became a little concerned the X-rays might reveal evidence of the injury from nine years ago. I explained to the doctor I had previously broken this wrist. However, the doctor said there was no evidence the wrist had ever been broken. She invited me to view the X-rays. The bones appeared to be perfectly straight, even though this had not been the case nine years earlier when the bones had been displaced and slightly misaligned. In addition, while the previous doctor had said one of the fractures might or might not completely fill in, this doctor confirmed there was no evidence of a fracture. The X-rays were also sent to a radiologist to confirm the doctor’s findings, which the radiologist did.
The doctor gave me a note that indicated I could return to work with no restrictions. She also said to me, regarding how I cared for my hand and wrist, “Keep doing whatever it is you are doing.” I missed only two weekends of yardwork at home before the hand was completely healed.
I’m grateful the use of my right hand has been restored in two instances through Christian Science treatment. Science and Health explains: “Christian Science is always the most skilful surgeon, but surgery is the branch of its healing which will be last acknowledged. However, it is but just to say that the author has already in her possession well-authenticated records of the cure, by herself and her students through mental surgery alone, of broken bones, dislocated joints, and spinal vertebræ” (p. 402). I am grateful to have seen how a material record of injury can be erased and replaced with the spiritual reality of our completeness and perfection as children of God.
Ron Whitler
Goodyear, Arizona, US
