Testimony of Healing September 10, 1984 Issue

How grateful I am for having been raised in a...

MARTHA J. DAVIS with contributions from RUTH COOKE McCARTNEY

How grateful I am for having been raised in a home where Christian Science was practiced and lived. Through our steadfast reliance on the healing power of God, many challenges were met.

When I was three years old I manifested the symptoms of polio. My parents turned to a Christian Science practitioner for help through prayer. In addition to his prayer for me, the practitioner recommended that my parents inform the local health authorities, in compliance with the law requiring that contagious diseases be reported.

The illness was reported, and an official from the county health department came and examined me. He said that the condition looked like polio to him but that he wished to take me to a hospital for a test of the spinal fluid. My parents told him that they were Christian Scientists, depending on prayer alone for healing, and that they wished to keep me home. The health official was uncertain of our legal rights. As it was a Friday afternoon, he said that he would check on the legal aspects of this matter and return on Monday. At that time I would have to be taken to the hospital or our house would be put under quarantine.

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