I am responding to an article in The Christian Science Journal of November 1994, entitled "Why do I write for the periodicals?" The following healings have brought me untold joy and gratitude—examples of "the invisible good" discussed on page 78 of Science and Health: "Spirit blesses man, but man cannot 'tell whence it cometh.' By it the sick are healed, the sorrowing are comforted, and the sinning are reformed. These are the effects of one universal God, the invisible good dwelling in eternal Science" (p. 78).

The first healing I must present very humbly, because it was a long time coming. I worked to earn my living for many years, and for a great many of them I smoked cigarettes. I'd gone to Christian Science Sunday School for a while when quite young, but in time took up smoking.

I did come back to Christian Science and to church on my own, later. And I loved it. I began to study and learn from the weekly Bible Lessons. Some people formed a Christian Science Society in our town. Then it became a church. We were such a happy church family.

Still I smoked. Yes, often I agonized about it. I didn't know why I wasn't healed, because I certainly prayed about it all the time. I read in the Sentinel of folks going to a practitioner and, in one treatment, being healed of the habit.

Finally I wanted to join my church so badly that I decided my only alternative was just to quit smoking. I set the date and did it. The healing here is that I was able to do it—I can't say painlessly, but successfully. I did feel God's help very plainly; He was with me all the way, and I never smoked again. I soon joined the church, and the most joyous thing is I have not stopped growing in Christian Science since then. I learned to express patience and complete trust in God.

For several years, at least four nights a week, I had very bad dreams and accompanying bodily discomfort; I got very little rest. At first I could hardly do anything but try to figure out why this was happening. Then I started to learn how to pray to counteract the dreams. I was not praying just to be healed of the unpleasantness, but to learn what it was I needed to know to express God better.

I continued, as always, to study the Lesson daily. I read Science and Health all the way through. I read through the other writings of Mary Baker Eddy. This reading brought joy and harmony. I learned a hymn from the Christian Science Hymnal that begins, "I love Thy way of freedom, Lord,/ To serve Thee is my choice" (No. 136). I took class instruction in Christian Science, which brought supreme joy. I learned better to obey the Golden Rule, and to be less judgmental. I learned the importance of loving others.

Then a good friend who lived in a nearby town began to go through an unhappy situation, which landed her in a hospital and then a nursing home. I did not think it was the right place for her, and started to pray vigorously. You might say I was bent on getting my friend back home quickly. Well, relying on God does not really work this way. God, the only creator, is working His purpose out always, and we cannot have it otherwise.

I called a practitioner to help me. She told me I couldn't be drawn into another person's "dream." This became very clear to me, and I learned a big lesson there. I had been thinking or seeing error as real, instead of knowing that it is unreal because it is not created by God, who is good.

Some time passed and my friend came home. It was then that I realized I had not had a bad dream since. Not one. It never even occurred to me to think of my dreams at the time I was praying about my friend. I had rested comfortably every night.

Words cannot express my total gratitude for God's love, and for Mary Baker Eddy.

Julia Marvel
Rockford, Michigan