Testimony of Healing

Out of the woods

I had just spent a week alone in the woods of rural Washington. I had been in need of some peaceful time because of an uncertain career transition I was facing.

While I was packing up to drive back home to Seattle, I started feeling twinges of pain in my ear. I had been swimming the night before, and hadn't been able to get the water to drain out of that ear. In the past this had led to an ear infection that had lasted for months. I was afraid this might be the case again. On the same side as the painful ear, the skin on my neck and shoulder also felt very irritated.

I wanted to pray for healing — not just physical healing, but for that feeling of peace about my personal situation that I still needed. I've been reading Science and Health over the past few years, and I've learned that physical difficulties are related to fear and have a mental cause. Since the affected areas of my body were inflamed, the word inflammation came to mind. It's one of the words Mrs. Eddy used in relation to fear in the Glossary of Science and Health (p. 586). These physical symptoms, I realized, were caused by fear, not by river water. Then the condition no longer impressed me so much.

I continued praying by affirming that God had made me good and by strongly denying all the physical symptoms that were suggesting otherwise. The pains in my ear were becoming more frequent, and I knew that I needed to strengthen my trust in God's presence in my life. I'd learned that God is all-powerful in heaven, but somehow I just accepted that there's some sort of interference that prevents God from being tangibly felt on earth. When I realized that heaven is infinite and therefore encompasses the earth, I suddenly felt that God was all around me, taking care of me.

I was also dealing with another problem this whole time. I had been considering moving closer to the woods I love, but didn't know if I could relate to people whose lives and backgrounds seemed so different. At first I felt critical of some of these people, but then I realized that I needed to love them.

As I prayed to see them as God's likenesses, as the Bible says each of His children is, something came over me; I had a change of heart about the whole situation. I saw all people as the likeness of God, with an abundance of goodwill connecting them. Then I didn't feel separated from other people, either physically or mentally, because we were all united in the same God.

By the time I got home that night, my skin was back to normal and the twinges in my ear were infrequent. A couple of days later I was completely well. I'm grateful to God for the inner peace I gained. And the physical healings were even more proof to me that what one is thinking has a direct connection to one's physical condition.

Noni
Seattle, Washington

Reprinted with permission from the Christian Science Journal
Copyright © 2004 The Christian Science Publishing Society
All rights reserved.