Testimony of Healing November 25, 1985 Issue

At one time, during my menstrual period each...

MARGARET LAPHAM JOHNSON

At one time, during my menstrual period each month, severe hemorrhaging would occur and continue for an abnormal length of time. I did not tell my family about it, as I didn't want to worry them. So I carried on with the household duties and other activities the best I could.

I asked a Christian Science practitioner to pray daily for me, and I continued my daily study of the Bible Lesson (outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly). Also, at the practitioner's request, I endeavored to purify my thought by seeking to identify myself not as a mortal female but as a spiritual idea, made in God's image. The practitioner pointed out that this situation was a priceless opportunity to learn of my true substance and eternal relationship to God.

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mary Baker Eddy concludes her answer to the question "What is substance?" with this statement (p. 468): "The spiritual universe, including individual man, is a compound idea, reflecting the divine substance of Spirit." This statement and the following one were most helpful in my study to clarify my true identity (ibid., pp. 470-471): "The relations of God and man, divine Principle and idea, are indestructible in Science; and Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine order or spiritual law, in which God and all that He creates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged in its eternal history."