Two years ago I was suddenly stricken...

Two years ago I was suddenly stricken with severe physical disorders. The illness was never medically diagnosed. I telephoned a Christian Science practitioner at once for treatment. My breathing was labored, I had great difficulty talking, eating, and sleeping, and had a persistent cough. I remained in bed and needed nursing assistance. My mother came to my aid, and two of my sisters traveled from a distant state in order to help for short periods.

One day I felt especially uneasy and troubled and asked my mother to stay close by me. In the afternoon I urgently asked her to get the practitioner on the phone. As she reached him, I felt that I was passing on. I had great difficulty hearing him or my mother speak, and I asked him to talk louder. I did hear him say, "Sometimes it takes an effort." I gave the phone to my mother and made a strong effort to hold to my understanding of God, Truth.

At my request my mother repeated from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy "the scientific statement of being." It includes these words (p. 468): "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all." I asked her to say it louder. She did, and in just a few minutes my hearing became normal again and I knew that the crisis was over.

Shortly after this my mother and I flew to Boston, Massachusetts, to the Christian Science Benevolent Association, Chestnut Hill, where I was tenderly cared for by the nurses and workers there. My appearance had changed so much that old friends and relatives either did not recognize me, or were alarmed by the change. However, with the expert care at the Benevolent Association and the daily prayers of the practitioner, my progress toward complete healing continued. Many beautiful healings took place during this time, and although I was not entirely free, I was able to fly home alone.

The complete healing took about eight months and included release from extreme nervousness, tension, swollen feet, the eradication of coughing, the resumption of normal eating, a new head of thick hair, curlier than it was before, and strength in walking and lifting objects. Of course, the most important aspect of the healing was the restoration of right thinking — seeing myself as a perfect and cherished idea of God.

Ten years earlier, after many years of marriage, I had gone through a divorce. Although I knew I was really God's child, ever loved by Him, I had not used my understanding of Christian Science to heal self-condemnation and the feeling of being unloved and rejected. Now I learned anew to love myself as God's true, harmonious, worthy expression and to accept as real and substantial all of the love continually shown me by friends and relatives. And with this growing realization of the omnipresence of divine Love came the much-needed physical healing.

I am grateful to God for all His love and ever-present care, for Christ Jesus and for Mrs. Eddy, for Christian Science and the Christian Science movement.

(Mrs.) Juanita Williams Gardner
Warren, Ohio