Always a seeker for Truth, at seventeen I stopped in front of...

Betty Reiss

Always a seeker for Truth, at seventeen I stopped in front of a Christian Science Reading Room, read two paragraphs from an open book, and said, "That's exactly what I believe." The book was Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. Although it was not until several years later that I actually became an active member in a branch church, Science soon brought healing into my life.

At the time I had been suffering from sick headaches since the age of thirteen. A relative told me that they ran in the family and I could expect to have them all my life. The headaches had been occurring more and more frequently and lasting two or three days. I had been taking strong medication in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

Although in my brief contact with Christian Science I had not fully grasped the idea of spiritual healing, I had glimpsed the fact that Christian Scientists don't turn to medication when faced with a physical difficulty. So, thinking only of going through this attack without medication, I drove around our valley in the summer darkness, praying for myself. I acknowledged that God is good, that He doesn't cause pain, that He loves me, and that it is not His will for me to suffer.

That was all I knew. My simple prayer continued, and after a short while the pain and nausea lessened. I was amazed. Fifteen minutes later I was well. That was over twenty years ago, and I have not had another headache.

In Science and Health we read (p. 228): "Heredity is a prolific subject for mortal belief to pin theories upon; but if we learn that nothing is real but the right, we shall have no dangerous inheritances, and fleshly ills will disappear."

After I had studied Christian Science for a time, I wanted to become a church member and lend my support to the Christian Science movement, but I was a cigarette smoker. I'd tried to quit the habit many times without success. One day I got in touch with a Christian Science practitioner and asked her, "Can you help me stop smoking so I can join the church?" She assured me that she would help me to know that God made man free. She prayed for me, and before long I found smoking distasteful and unappealing. I had been completely healed of the habit. I then joined The Mother Church and the local branch church.

Many more healings have occurred in our family. Animals have been restored to health and accidents have been averted. Healing in Christian Science comes as we awake to man's true selfhood as the spiritual idea of God, dwelling in harmony.

Betty Reiss
Somerton, Arizona

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Testimony of Healing

Christian Science has shown me how to turn to God in prayer...

December 7, 1987

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