Our youngest daughter has always been full of tremendous energy. From the time she learned to crawl she rarely sat idle. However, one day when she was six years old, she became very lethargic. My husband and I soon noticed that she was having difficulty breathing and quickly hired a Christian Science practitioner to provide Christian Science treatment. We both had a lifetime of significant healings in Christian Science and felt confident in this choice of treatment for our daughter.
As my husband and I took turns holding our daughter close, we diligently prayed for her and felt the loving support of the practitioner, who I talked to several times about our daughter’s progress. Foremost in our thought was our child’s health and the need for quick healing, and the practitioner shared with us the powerful spiritual truths she was affirming in her treatment.
I saw the need to take a mental stand, as well, for what I knew was true based on what I had learned and demonstrated through my study and practice of Christian Science, because I was initially so paralyzed by fear. Here’s what I knew: that God is All-Life and all-powerful; there is no opposing power that can take away the life or health of God’s children; every child is a constant reflection of divine Life; my daughter has an inseparable relation to her true Father-Mother God.
Though I knew these truths in my heart, I realized the need to stop the mental chatter trying to tell me otherwise. I felt impelled to step out of the apartment for a short time to continue praying away from the daunting picture while my daughter rested in the capable arms of my husband, a Christian Science nurse.
At that time we were living on the grounds of a Christian Science nursing facility which had a wonderful Bible reference library that I frequently visited. I headed down the hill to the main building, praying diligently with each step to trust our daughter to God’s care. I had been reading the book of Job in the Bible that week and had left off in the middle of all of the chaos that was raining down on him. I felt impelled to finish reading that story.
I’d always known that through Job’s severe trials, he never doubted God’s powerful presence in his life, and that eventually all that had been lost to him was abundantly returned. Interestingly, though, I’d never thought deeply about what it would take to feel that kind of faith in the midst of such human anguish and to truly believe with my whole heart that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). I recognized that this was my opportunity to do so.
My trust in God had frequently wavered. I had no problem acknowledging God’s presence and harmonious effect in my life when life seemed good, but faith had become conditional for me. Now I prayed with all my heart to understand that God was, and is, always present and the only power; to know that no matter what appeared to be going on at that moment to the contrary, He was, in fact, governing our daughter and maintaining her health. I recognized that she, like Job, couldn’t for a moment be separated from God’s loving care.
A tremendous joy and lightheartedness welled up in me, and I jumped out of my chair with an unshakable conviction that my daughter was absolutely free! Every thought that had been nurturing fear dissolved entirely in the light of spiritual understanding. I headed back to the apartment to witness and celebrate my daughter’s healing—what I was certain was her freedom from all symptoms of sickness.
Yet during the short time I was in the library, a very thick fog had rolled in and blanketed the hill that led back to the apartment. I could literally see nothing in front of me and laughed out loud at the perfect metaphor being presented. I had to completely trust that God was guiding and supporting me, since I couldn’t see, just as I had to trust God’s care for my child. The healing Truth Christ Jesus taught and practiced was just as demonstrable today as it was thousands of years ago. I had to lift my thought above the mortal picture of disease and discord (the mist) in order to see the divine picture, the perfect child that God created.
Mary Baker Eddy so astutely states, “To strike out right and left against the mist, never clears the vision; but to lift your head above it, is a sovereign panacea” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 355). Her choice of words in this verse so brilliantly describes my journey to understanding more of God’s sovereignty or supreme power, as the remedy for difficulties or diseases of every kind.
As I joyfully arrived home, my thoughts were filled with the many references in the Bible and the writings of Mrs. Eddy regarding the mists of material sense dispersing, and the light of divine Truth appearing.
However, when I stepped into the apartment, my husband was still holding my daughter, and it appeared that her condition had not changed at all. I refused to question the spiritual confidence I had gained. I vehemently denied the opportunity for fear or discouragement to sneak back in for even one second; I stood firmly on the side of Truth and insisted aloud that my daughter was whole, and that God was governing. Within a minute, she sat up, hopped off my husband’s lap, and went about the evening as though she had never been ill. Every sign of sickness was gone, and she was back to her happy, active self.
My gratitude for this precious experience is immense. The spiritual lessons learned that evening, and my journey in faith, paved the way for countless other healings in my family, and continued demonstrations of God’s care. Our daughter, who is now in high school, and very athletic, remembers the moment vividly when she awakened with clear and steady breath. My gratitude is boundless for this precious experience and the powerful lessons learned.
Angela Denson
Ballwin, Missouri, US
I am the daughter referenced in this healing, and I remember feeling completely free in an instant. My breath was easy and natural, and it felt as if nothing had ever happened—there was absolutely no recovery period.
Madeleine Denson
