In 2019 I experienced three healings that have resulted in sustained spiritual and physical strength.
I restarted a routine of running in the mornings with our dog. I had come to cherish this regimen as a time to quietly contemplate the spiritual facts of existence as taught in Christian Science. Among other daily prayers, I took this time to recognize the allness of God, good, and to help prepare my thought for the day.
One morning, as my dog and I were heading into the woods, I slipped on a large rock and landed hard on my knees and hands. I was so startled by the fall, I first felt angry and sorry for myself as I struggled to pick myself up.
A few moments later, I saw our dog on the verge of rolling in something unpleasant. I quickly yelled, “No! Come!” and she immediately came to me for a treat. This was the perfect reminder to me; I realized I could be just as firm and expectant of good, obedient to the voice of Truth, as my dog was with me. The voice of Truth was telling me, “No! Come here!”—heed God’s angel messages of health, strength, and goodness that I had been contemplating at the start of our run. Gaining strength and peace by these thoughts, I continued my jog, with no effect from the fall.
A month or so later, I fell once more on the same trail, injuring my foot. I was able to keep running, but there was a nagging sense of discomfort in the foot for a few weeks. Despite my expectation of healing through Christian Science treatment for myself, there was no change.
About six weeks after the fall, a testimony shared at my local branch Church of Christ, Scientist, inspired me to expect a healing in my foot from my continued prayers. I felt reassured, renewed in my faith and trust in the Christian Science treatment I had engaged in for myself, and fully expected a healing. The very next day, while walking down stairs, I heard a subtle click in my foot, and felt a correction that was entirely painless and gentle. My foot was completely healed, and that evening I ran about three miles with total freedom.
A few weeks after that, I fell on the sidewalk while running early one morning. This was a startling and painful experience, and I called my husband right away for prayerful support. Unable to run or to move my left hand, I walked carefully home, giving gratitude for a new opportunity for healing.
At home, I took a couple of hours to be quiet, turning to God in focused Christian Science prayer. It came to me to affirm that no one could be separate, even for a moment, from his or her divine creator. I understood God’s protection to be all-powerful, and therefore His creation could never be in danger. I began to glimpse the truth of the First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). I mentally declared that I must be innately obedient to that command, and could not experience any effects of being disobedient to it.
I reasoned this way until I felt completely convinced that I was safe, could never fall out of His care, and could expect the body to comply with this truth. The following statement by Mary Baker Eddy confirms this: “As God is substance and man is the divine image and likeness, man should wish for, and in reality has, only the substance of good, the substance of Spirit, not matter. The belief that man has any other substance, or mind, is not spiritual and breaks the First Commandment, Thou shalt have one God, one Mind. Mortal man seems to himself to be material substance, while man is ‘image’ (idea). . . .
“The material body and mind are temporal, but the real man is spiritual and eternal” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp. 301, 302).
The pain in my hand significantly subsided, and I ventured off to my office with gratitude for the progress. Within a day or two I gained full use of my hand, even to the point of being able to help my husband with a home construction job that entailed holding a heavy piece of lumber while he nailed it into place. But there was still some discomfort.
I took some extra time each day to pray and listen for new ideas about man’s uprightness and to overcome a fear of falling again. Recognizing the direct link our study of Christian Science has to biblical law and Christ-healing, I prayed with this promise: “When speaking of God’s children, not the children of men, Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is within you;’ that is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God’s image is unfallen and eternal” (Science and Health, p. 476).
I saw that man is not subject to accident, clumsiness, or chance but has the kingdom of heaven within, which can be manifested in our experience as peace, grace, and harmony. Soon I was happily running again, free from fear and free from falls, but several weeks later I realized I still had some slight discomfort in my hand and there was some lingering swelling. Almost as soon as I noted the need for continued prayer, an angel message came to my thought that Christian Science heals completely. The next time I looked at my hand, all had returned to normal.
These three healings have been permanent. I have continued to enjoy running regularly with our dog, upright both in thought and in experience, consistently and with great joy. My gratitude abounds for the example of Christ Jesus and the life and writings of Mary Baker Eddy, and all that they sacrificed in order to teach us these beautiful, healing facts about God and His children.
Veronica Kline
Beverly, Massachusetts, US
