When I was in extreme pain last year and could barely walk, I decided I should go to a Christian Science nursing facility. At the time, I thought I had a pretty complete picture of how everything worked at the nursing facility and what would happen when I was a patient. How wrong I was! Although I had served on the board of this particular facility, and had stayed there before—not as a patient but for a few days of rest and study—I couldn’t have imagined the depth of love that would be expressed by the Christian Science nurses and staff.
After discussing my circumstances on the phone with one of the head Christian Science nurses at the facility, I was accepted for admission. A friend kindly agreed to take me there in her car, and within the hour we were on our way. While en route, I called a Christian Science practitioner listed in the Journal to ask for treatment, and she lovingly agreed to pray for me.
From the moment I arrived, I could feel the love and healing atmosphere. After I was brought to my room in a wheelchair, the Director of Christian Science Nursing came to talk to me. My physical discomfort was obvious. In the middle of asking me a few necessary questions for my admission, he paused and said very quietly, “The Comforter is here—the Comforter is right here.” I get tears in my eyes when I think of that moment, because it was said so tenderly and truthfully. I felt the Christ, defined in Christian Science as the Holy Ghost, or divine Comforter, right there with me, comforting me, sustaining me, and healing me. I was able to do the necessary paperwork, and the pain just melted away like an ice cube sitting on a sunny windowsill.
