Testimony of Healing May 1, 1978 Issue

From my early twenties I suffered with migraine headaches...

Florence B. Waddell

From my early twenties I suffered with migraine headaches. The pain was severe, and the nausea kept me in bed. Each time these attacks came I would pray to heal myself, but would finally have to call a Christian Science practitioner for help. Many lessons were learned, for I was forced to gain a higher understanding of God.

On four separate occasions, while in great pain during one of these attacks, a feeling of compassion for others and a desire to be of service filled my thought. In each instance I forced myself to get out of bed and take care of some of these needs. Each time, all discomfort completely disappeared in a few moments. I recalled Christ Jesus' healing of the man with the withered hand. He said to the man (Mark 3:5), "Stretch forth thine hand." When he healed the blind man he said (John 9:7), "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam"; and to the man by the pool of Bethesda (John 5:8), "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." They all had to do something, they were all obedient, and they were healed. I saw that my obedience to the desire to help others — forgetting self — brought about my relief on these occasions.

I was grateful for this progress, but the headaches returned. Then one summer five years ago my husband and I were camped high in the mountains. We were completely isolated. My husband had retired early, and I took advantage of the quiet time to do some deep study. I gave special attention to a By-Law in the Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy, "Alertness to Duty." The By-Law reads (Art. VIII, Sect. 6): "It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind. By his works he shall be judged,—and justified or condemned." I saw so clearly that this difficulty was manifesting itself to me as a suggestion that I was getting a headache. Then when I didn't meet it at that point and accepted the belief that I had a headache, I suffered for some time. This was quite revealing to me. I went to bed very uplifted.

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Testimony of Healing
Mrs. Eddy writes in Rudimental Divine Science (p. 2), "Healing...
May 1, 1978
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