Article January 9, 1971 Issue

Healing Need Not Be Delayed

KATHLEEN O'CONNOR

Instantaneous healing is always the goal in the practice of Christian Science. However, when healing seems delayed or protracted, one should not give way to discouragement or despair. In proportion as the truth that God, Spirit, is All and that man is His image and likeness is actually realized and held to, healing takes place in consciousness and physical evidence of the improved mental and moral state must inevitably follow.

Receptivity to moral and spiritual growth, confident expectancy of good, gratitude for the ever-presence of good, and acknowledgment of the divine source of all good are indispensable factors in healing. These will counteract any inclination to indulge in self-pity and complaint about not being healed.

Here comfort and encouragement may be offered by a reminder of the father's assurance in one of Christ Jesus' parables: "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine."^{Luke 15:31;} We can know too that God in His great love has all the time been watching over His beloved son, even while there has seemed to be a human being struggling to rise above the false, material sense of life. Indeed, God, divine Love, is continually pouring forth a superabundance of good, which awaits only our recognition and acceptance.