Recently I heard someone tell of a healing they had while being cared for by a Christian Science nurse, and it made me realize how grateful I am for several healings that I’ve had with the support of these cherished women and men in the Christian Science movement. Like the good Samaritan in Christ Jesus’ story in the Bible, they came to me where I was. In each case I was alone and felt I very much needed the care they give. Always, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for their support and the results it brought.
Once, when in a new city, I had a painful condition that made it impossible to stand up long enough to make myself a meal. Very weak and unable to sleep, I called for the help of a Christian Science practitioner, who immediately agreed to pray for me. Feeling that I needed someone to come to the house where I was staying and provide some assistance, I contacted a Christian Science nurse as well. I didn’t know her or anyone in the city, except for family members who were not Christian Scientists. She arrived at 2:00 a.m. and prepared a meal for me. Then she read to me from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy and from the Christian Science periodicals. A great sense of calm came over me with this entrance of spiritual light.
Early the next morning the Christian Science nurse had to leave but suggested a workable plan for the next 24 hours, which included my adult son staying with me that night. I was well on the way to recovery when she left, and completely well by the following day.
On another occasion I woke up at 5:00 a.m. with the room spinning around me. Terrified, I again reached out by phone to a Christian Science practitioner and a Christian Science nurse, both of whom immediately responded to my need. During his visit to my home, the Christian Science nurse prepared a meal for me and read to me. As a result of the practitioner’s effective prayers and the understanding and love expressed by the Christian Science nurse, the fear subsided and the problem vanished. This happened over 12 years ago.
Another memorable healing was of what I suspect was food poisoning, which was so painful I could not lie still. After calling a Christian Science practitioner for treatment, I found a Christian Science nurse to stay with me for a few hours until decisions were made for my further practical care. Just looking in the Christian Science nurse’s gentle, loving eyes was healing for me. Having her there was the turning point. I soon felt much more comfortable, and a complete healing occurred over the next couple of days.
More recently, I called a Christian Science nurse nearby to ask if she could remove a sharp splinter of some kind from the ball of my foot, which I could not do myself. It was painful and making me limp when I walked. A fairly large bump had formed around the splinter. I hoped the Christian Science nurse would pull the splinter out, but the splinter appeared to be fully embedded in my skin and could not be removed without an incision, which she reminded me was not within the scope of a Christian Science nurse’s practice. Instead, she lifted my thought from focus on the body and reminded me that my substance is spiritual and uninvadable. With conviction, she quoted this passage from the Christian Science textbook: “A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive” (Science and Health, p. 463). I had been praying with this statement for days, but she was really knowing it was true!
As soon as I hung up the phone the pain was gone and I was walking normally again. I was left with a sense of God’s allness and of my perfection as God’s reflection. Within a couple of days the bump on the foot disappeared, and that was the end of the difficulty.
In each of these cases, the Christian Science nurse’s understanding that disease, fear, and pain are not from God and therefore not real, and that God’s truth is able to heal whatever imposition might appear, was evident. In this way, a Christian Science nurse is a strong support to a practitioner’s metaphysical treatment of disease, which rests on this spiritual basis.
As the Founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist, Mrs. Eddy provided for Christian Science nursing in her Church’s organization, which certainly was a divinely inspired idea. It is a vital part of Church, which Science and Health defines in part as “the structure of Truth and Love” (p. 583). Healings that result from Christian Science treatment and the practical care Christian Science nurses provide are evidence of God’s care for all of His children, which meets the human need. The healings are signs of “Immanuel, or ‘God with us’ ” (Science and Health, p. xi).
Robin Kadz
Laguna Hills, California, US
