When our three children were small, there were times when I...

When our three children were small, there were times when I wondered what gain was made when, in times of illness, we applied the teachings of Christian Science and relied on God alone for healing instead of calling a doctor. Yet being a member of The Mother Church and also a member of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, I always turned to God for healing, often having the prayerful help of a Christian Science practitioner. As my study of Science deepened I came to see that when one employs material medicine, all one may get is a physical change. But in the case of spiritual healing, not only is there physical healing but one learns more of God and learns to trust more in Him as divine Love, and to some degree one's thinking and life are regenerated. Children learn this as well, through study and practice, which results in spiritual progress for the whole family.

When one of our daughters was twelve years old, the end of one of her fingers was cut off in an electric beater mishap. The hand was wrapped to protect it, and in the days that followed, our daughter and I dug deep into the spiritual truths found in that week's Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly. Our daughter had absolute confidence in the healing power of God's truth. I soon gained the firm conviction that nothing bad had happened or could happen to the perfect, spiritual child of God—our daughter's real nature.

Just before this incident I had had class instruction in Christian Science with an authorized teacher, and during my study then I had been impressed with this statement on page 259 of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy: "The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea,— perfect God and perfect man,—as the basis of thought and demonstration." This explained the reason for my firm trust in God. A few weeks later our daughter's nail and the end of her finger had grown out and were perfectly formed.

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