Testimony of Healing February 22, 1982 ISSUE

At age twelve I was enrolled in a Christian Science Sunday School

SUZANNE N. WIDGERY

At age twelve I was enrolled in a Christian Science Sunday School. The one aspect of Truth I immediately grasped while there was that no matter what my human circumstance, God would help and heal me. That summer I was invited by a friend to go swimming in a pool I was not at all familiar with. Unlike most pools that have a gradual slope, the water depth in this pool abruptly dropped from three feet to about ten feet. At that time I was not a swimmer, so I usually just splashed around the shallow end. Unaware of the sharp drop, I suddenly found myself in ten feet of water. I floundered and went under a few times. Finally, even though there were lifeguards on duty, it seemed that human help had abandoned me. I was taking in huge gulps of water and knew I was sinking. Then I thought of what I had been learning in Sunday School: that without question God would help me if only I would reach out for His care. "God is my help," I affirmed, mentally reaching out for this support—not desperately as a last effort, but confident of His help. Instantly I felt buoyed, and then my outstretched hand touched the side of the pool. I recall feeling a wonderful closeness to God at that moment, and a deep sense of gratitude for His care.

A few years later, as a teen-ager, I fell asleep while under a sunlamp that was not more than a foot away from my face. Though my sleep was brief, I was severely burned. My face was discolored, swollen, and blistered. My mother called a Christian Science practitioner, who prayed for me. I can't remember the specific truths we pondered, but I do know our prayerful work was diligent. I experienced no pain or complications, and within a week I was back in school—my skin flawless and normal in color.

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