Testimony of Healing

THE HEALING POWER OF RADICAL PRAYER

A little over two years ago, I had a water­shed experience that gave me new certainty about the meaning of a passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Only through radical reliance on Truth can scientific healing power be realized” (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 167).  I thought of the word realized in terms of “made real;” and therefore irrefutable and clearly apparent.  And this proved useful in prayer at a time of intense physical suffering.

Several challenges had coincided to threaten my health and peace of mind.  I was struggling with a loss of appetite and weight, sleeplessness, a persistent cough, and a sharp pain in my chest every time I breathed. I was also having difficulty standing and walking.  On top of all this, I wasn't satisfied with the new house my wife and I were living in.

As a lifelong student of Christian Science, I had experienced many healings through prayer, and I knew all these conditions and emotions could be harmonized through relying on this spiritual and scientific method of healing.  I called a Christian Science practitioner for help, and talked with him daily.

The practitioner helped me see that each of the difficulties that seemed so very real was in fact an illusion resulting from the false belief that I was separated from God.  If God had created all and made it good, as is recorded in the first chapter of Genesis, then in reality there was no basis for any kind of discord.  He reminded me of my spiritual heritage as God's child--that I reflected Him in every aspect of my life.  I could claim my exemption from suffering on the basis that my wholeness was a present, prov­able, spiritual fact, or law.  Jesus' command “Be ye therefore perfect” (Matt. 5:48) helped me see that it was possible to claim perfection as an already established fact.  To me, this meant that I also had the right to be free from any adverse circumstance, and could experience freedom unequivocally and immediately.

With gratitude I can say that I never yielded to discouragement or doubted that I would be healed.  Recalling that a Christian Scientist friend of mine had once said, “Discouragement is ingratitude in advance,” I resolved not to anticipate a prolonged physical ordeal or recovery period.

Instead, I continued to pray with resolve and firm trust in God.  Another passage from Science and Health came to my thought, which instructs: “When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought” (p. 495).  This helped me see that I couldn't be tempted by an illusion — the lie that my identity was less than wholly spiritual.  On this basis, I was able to reject the thought that I had to "go through" real physical problems.  Holding fast to the truth of "God and His idea" enabled me to affirm that I expressed divine qualities -- strength, completeness, joy, satisfaction, to the exclusion of their opposite.

Within a week, my breathing was effortless and painless.  The coughing ceased.  Very shortly, I regained my appetite and weight, and the freedom to stand and walk normally.  But even before these symptoms disappeared, I knew healing had begun, as I felt the Christ, Truth, lifting my thought above sickness to, as the practitioner put it, “the realization of God's omnipotence and omnipresence.”

A change in attitude about my home soon followed.  Just prior to this series of physical challenges, my wife and I had moved into a house that was much smaller and less attractive than the one we'd previously owned.  When I told the practitioner about my dissatisfaction with our living arrangements, he encouraged me to acknowledge the good that is always abounding in our lives through God's grace, and to express gratitude for everything good that I already had.  We also talked about a statement in Mrs. Eddy's autobiography, Retrospection and Introspection: “It is scientific to abide in conscious harmony, in health-giving, deathless Truth and Love” (p. 64).  I realized that this harmony included my physical well-being, as well as contentment in my surroundings.  I saw that I couldn't live outside the goodness of God's creation.

In a short time, my wife and I were able to make some improvements to the house, so that it was more spacious and comfortable, and I quickly regained a sense of home as “the dearest spot on earth” (Science and Health, p. 58).

My gratitude is boundless for the fact that Christian Science heals anything that disturbs our peace, when we are steadfast in our “radical reliance on Truth.”

Norman Anderson
Mercer Island, Washington

Reprinted with permission from the Christian Science Sentinel April 2, 2007, page 24
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