One of the greatest gifts I have gained in all my years studying and practicing Christian Science is the journey I had that was occasioned by a very painful condition in one of my legs. Far outweighing the intense fear of the image it presented, and of what the medical diagnosis might be, was my desire to trust completely in Christian Science for my healing—in all I had learned from it and knew it to be. I wanted to have full faith in it as an ever-present, provable Science based on man as the perfect, spiritual expression of God—of Life, Truth, and Love.
As a child, I hadn’t been taught that each of us is, in reality, an expression of God. That is something I later learned through the study of Science. But I did have a clear sense that my existence and being were more than a temporary mortal experience. Christian Science teaches that God is Principle and Life, and that every one of His ideas forever expresses this harmonious, principled Life. The fact that these are provable truths is why I ultimately chose to rely on Christian Science for healing.
What impressed me when I called a Christian Science practitioner for help was how little time we spent discussing the physical condition or the symptoms. We didn’t look to matter, or the body, but to God, divine Truth. In our prayers we primarily worked with one basic statement from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: “Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being, and His reflection is man and the universe” (pp. 465–466).
With the practitioner’s first treatment, the intense pain immediately ceased, but I did use crutches on and off to get around in the weeks that followed. Daily, moment by moment, I kept my thought on the oneness of Principle and idea, with my movement governed by, and reflecting, Principle’s harmonious activity and therefore not subject to any imperfect or inharmonious material claims. Also, words and phrases from many of the hymns in the Christian Science Hymnal would spontaneously come to mind, giving me comfort and inspiration.
The practitioner and I continued praying during the next few weeks as I kept to myself, discussing the leg condition with no one. By the end of a month the leg was normal, and I was back walking my dog, without crutches, on our daily walks of about two miles.
Speaking of her journey in discovering Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy remarked: “For three years after my discovery, I sought the solution of this problem of Mind-healing, searched the Scriptures and read little else, kept aloof from society, and devoted time and energies to discovering a positive rule. The search was sweet, calm, and buoyant with hope, not selfish nor depressing” (Science and Health, p. 109).
For me, having been given the rule in Christian Science that Principle and idea is one, I also found my journey “sweet, calm, and buoyant with hope, not selfish nor depressing.”
I am grateful to say that as the physical problem fades from memory, what remains is a greater understanding of God and the untouchable perfection and principled activity of His ideas.
Sylvia Messner
Laguna Hills, California, US
