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A dependable logic
Before the start of my junior year in college, I was making my way back to campus after a visit with family and friends in my home country of South Africa. I’d had an enriching break and was looking forward to starting school within a few days. Because of the length of my journey, which included an eight-hour layover at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, I brought with me plenty to read, including the Bible, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, and recent Christian Science periodicals.
Sitting in the terminal in Amsterdam, I almost felt as though I was having my own church service–everything I read made me feel close to God. One Sentinel article that stood out to me in particular was “Death did not end my life” by Howard Johnson (July 2, 2001). The author recounted experiences that had allowed him to prove that death is not a foregone conclusion. One account involved a severe case of appendicitis. I was very impressed by the article, and after reading it I got up to find my boarding gate as it was almost time to depart.
When I found my gate, I started experiencing severe abdominal pains. These came on suddenly and became increasingly painful so that I had difficulty standing. My situation seemed even more desperate when I realized two things. One, I had no time or immediate means to call a Christian Science practitioner since the flight was already boarding. And two, if an airline representative became aware of my situation, I might not be allowed to board at all. I thought, “Well, Alistair, there is no better opportunity to prove the immediate effectiveness of Christian Science than right now!” I reached out to God, listening wholeheartedly for His healing truth and guidance.
It was then that I recalled the article I had just read. As I was standing in the boarding line, it came to me to consider deeply the idea of overcoming death. I thought about how Jesus had furnished the world with the definitive proof of Life’s, God’s, everlasting nature throughout his ministry, and particularly in his own resurrection experience. It became clear to me that because God is everlasting and man is God’s own image and likeness, man never has to fear an end for himself. Man’s life is never in matter; he continuously reflects God’s eternal being.
It was as if a light turned on. Since it felt impossible that the belief in death could affect my expression of life, then no other material condition could interrupt Life’s harmonious expression, either. The fact that death was nothing to be feared meant that every other material fear could be (and would be) completely destroyed as well. This included the fear about the physical discomfort I was feeling.
In Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy speaks to what I was able to glimpse. She writes: “The spiritual fact and the material belief of things are contradictions; but the spiritual is true, and therefore the material must be untrue. Life is not in matter. Therefore it cannot be said to pass out of matter. Matter and death are mortal illusions. Spirit and all things spiritual are the real and eternal” (p. 289). In that moment, as I understood the reality and eternality of life, I felt a huge weight lift off me.
Before I got to the front of the boarding line I was healed. The remainder of my journey was completely peaceful as I rejoiced in God’s power to meet our every need quickly and perfectly. I am so grateful for the completeness of this healing and for the beautiful and dependable spiritual logic that the study of Christian Science provides. I must also give thanks for the invaluable Christian Science periodicals that allow us to learn from the sharing of others.
—Alistair Savides, Pleasant Hill, California, US