Last year, I began feeling quite ill with symptoms of Covid-19. My husband and I love Christian Science and have had remarkable healings in our family. This illness, however, seemed to loom large due to the worldwide media coverage and widespread fear of the pandemic.
At this time I was also feeling overwhelmed as a parent. My husband’s work was rewarding yet very demanding, and during that specific time I was the one in charge of caring for our children. When our younger son became ill, I was struck with fear. I couldn’t think clearly, let alone pray as I’d been taught in Christian Science. Then when my older son woke up from his nap distraught and ill, too, I felt helpless and alone. I called a Christian Science practitioner to pray for us.
The practitioner shared strong and comforting truths with me, which helped. With both children crying and seeming to need constant comfort from me, I reached out to our divine Parent, our Father-Mother God, in prayer. A line from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, came to mind: “The sharp experiences of belief in the supposititious life of matter, as well as our disappointments and ceaseless woes, turn us like tired children to the arms of divine Love” (p. 322).
