Editorial June 25, 1990 Issue

Powerful, healing prayer

Elaine Natale

A few months after my college roommate and I were introduced to Christian Science, we found ourselves in a situation where we needed help right away. Late one night I was cutting mats for some drawings with a knife that held a razorsharp blade. Mistakenly, I positioned my left hand in the path of the knife and cut my thumb severely.

I cried out in pain, and my roommate rushed to help me. We could both see it was a serious situation. I was afraid I might lose the thumb. We had to do something quickly. My roommate said, "Either we have to get you to the emergency room at the hospital or we have to use Christian Science." We'd seen clear evidence in our friends' lives that prayer could heal, and in this moment of need we wanted to turn to Christian Science.

We sat together on the edge of my bed. She gently wrapped my hand in a towel and we began to pray. At first we couldn't think how to pray. Then we remembered that a Sunday School teacher at the local Christian Science church had said the Lord's Prayer will always help. Earlier in my life I wouldn't have thought prayer could be this practical. The Lord's Prayer was familiar, but it had just seemed like words to me. I needed more than words. I needed help. Christian Science had been showing me, though, that real prayer isn't just words. My friends had had healings through prayer. Prayer had given them real help.

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