Last year, one of my knees began to hurt when I walked. There did not seem to be a reason for the discomfort, which came and went. When I felt pain, I would affirm the spiritual nature of my being as understood in Christian Science, but I was not very specific in my prayer.
In late March of 2021, I traveled to my daughter and son-in-law’s home to care for their two-year-old while they went away for the weekend. As I traveled, I found it hard to walk through the concourses of the airports. Upon my arrival, I noticed how fast my grandson was able to run, and I realized that I would not be able to keep up with him! For his safety, I knew I needed to heal the difficulty with my knee right away.
I called a Christian Science practitioner for prayerful help in finding peace and healing. We dug in deeply, starting with the origin of my being as found in Genesis: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (1:26). I knew that as the image and likeness of God, I expressed all His qualities, including the quality of perfection. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines perfect as “finished; complete; consummate; not defective.” I perceived that I could not be “defective” as God’s idea.
Mary Baker Eddy writes: “If God is the Principle of man (and He is), man is the idea of God; and this idea cannot fail to express the exact nature of its Principle,—any more than goodness, to present the quality of good” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 78). And: “Perfection is not expressed through imperfection” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 72). These ideas really spoke to me.
During my conversations with the practitioner, it became apparent that I was harboring a false sense of responsibility for my branch Church of Christ, Scientist. It was a burdensome sense, which I dearly wanted removed. I began to affirm that the church is governed, maintained, and sustained by God, not by person.
In striving to get a more spiritual view of knees, I looked up knee in a Bible concordance. I found that falling on one’s knees was indicative of humbly worshiping God. For example, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3:14). And, “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Romans 14:11).
As I connected the idea of humility with knees, I mentally bent my knees in prayer and thanksgiving. And in so doing, I began to remove the burdened sense of how I viewed all aspects of church.
Over the weekend, I managed to keep up with my grandson, and we had a wonderful time. As I was leaving for the airport, though, my knee suddenly gave way and my daughter and I heard a loud pop. It was now impossible to put weight on the leg, and I was off to the airport and facing long concourses again.
I had to rely on kind airport employees to push me in a wheelchair from gate to gate and to the baggage claim. This made me really think about humility and express it. I affirmed that it was the power of good, God, not me, that moved me around, and I was grateful.
I arrived home, and normal walking continued to be difficult for me. But I persisted in my praying, and there was steady improvement in my mobility and the pain disappeared. Two weeks later, traveling to visit with other grandchildren, I was able to navigate the airport concourses on my own. I was able to take long walks on beaches and even jump on the trampoline.
I became aware that mobility is a quality of God, not a function of muscles and bones. My gratitude and joy were magnified as I thought of the lame man who was healed by Peter: “And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God” (Acts 3:8).
This healing continued to unfold, and as my understanding of humility grew, each lingering physical restriction was met. By late summer all normal movement had been restored.
I am very grateful to know that it is God who governs every aspect of body and church. I am very grateful that God has shown me the way, and that Christian Science has given me the tools, including confidence and conviction, to rely on God. I am also grateful for Christian Science practitioners, for church founded and structured by God, and to be able to humbly “walk with Love along the way” (Minny M. H. Ayers, Christian Science Hymnal, No. 139).
As to my church work, I am still serving, but I am letting God—instead of me—guide the work. This has brought an uplift in my experience as a branch church member.
Cynthia Deupree
Charlottesville, Virginia, US
The testimony didn’t go into enough detail about the completeness of the healing. The last time we saw my mother she was running all around with our son. He is rather heavy but runs quite quickly. She was carrying him up and down stairs, running around the yard, and on the floor playing with his toys with him. Her knee never gave her any trouble or pain again. That is incredible.
MADELEINE BANTA
Houston, Texas, US
