I am very happy to be a Christian Scientist—to be class taught and a branch church member. Christian Science has helped me immeasurably in school and at work. To solve problems of different sorts, descriptions for man and Mind from the Glossary of Science and Health have been particularly helpful for me (see p. 591). What a blessing it is to have all of Mrs. Eddy's writings available to study and put into practice.

A couple of years ago I had a marvelous healing. I was on vacation in France with my mom and a sister. This was to be followed by an extended two-month stay on my own. While touring with my family, I hurt my foot. I returned to the car to pray, and I knew my mom would be praying for me as she finished the tour. I was especially concerned because I was the only one who could drive a stick shift car, and also because of the fear that I would not be able to walk properly in the months ahead. When my family returned, my sister did just fine in operating the car for us.

Upon reaching our apartment, I called a practitioner back home and told her about my foot, which by this time was swollen and couldn't bear any weight. Her response was comforting, and she reminded me I could never leave God's care. She said she would pray for me.

When I was by myself, I was still very fearful and couldn't stop thinking about the discouraging possibility that I would be unable to walk normally. After struggling with these thoughts, however, which were not from God, I was filled with a good, helpful idea: "What better way to start this special time than with a significant demonstration of Christian Science healing!" This new expectancy of good allowed me to settle down and study that week's Bible Lesson, entitled "Unreality." So much of it was just what I needed, and three Bible commands stood out to me like neon lights: "Walk as children of light" (Eph. 5:8); "Walk in the law of the Lord" (Ps. 119:1); and "I will walk at liberty" (Ps. 119:45).

Since I was "full of light," that meant I could only listen to what God, divine Truth, was telling me about myself. Thus I realized I was governed by divine Principle, and that was the only law in control of my experience. I could not have anything that divine Love didn't make. The power of Love was keeping me safe and perfect, and no crack or hole in the sidewalk could possibly stop me from being God's perfect child.

While I had to hop on one foot into another room for dinner, my confused and fearful thinking had truly lifted, and I felt quite joyous and confident of God's care for me. Early the next morning I found I could already put my weight on my foot and walk. We were able to continue with all our plans. I prayed further to be free from any need to walk "gingerly," and within four days I was thoroughly healed and could even drive the car again. This wonderful healing set the tone for my entire visit, which included many special experiences.

Upon my return home, I realized that the Bible quotations that I had taken quite literally, and that had helped me so beautifully, had a higher meaning; to "walk with God" really meant I had to study Christian Science more, and take time to understand God better. The outcome of this inspiration was to start adjusting my very busy and successful business life to allow for more time for study and prayer.

More recently I had a healing of a severe headache. It made me feel like going to bed and "sleeping it off" was the only answer. I'm grateful I didn't have to give in to this suggestion. In my prayer, the major healing idea that came was to ask myself if the word headache was in the list of Godlike vocabulary. I'd already been watching my vocabulary to see that it conformed better to Truth. Since God does not create or know evil, it was amazing how many discordant words I found were not included, and that I had been using.

I reasoned that if I was the pure reflection of God, and God only knows good, I could not experience pain or suffering, which He does not know. I became well enough to attend a dinner, and that evening a full healing came as I continued to consider and affirm only words from God's "vocabulary" of perfection, dominion, and peace.

Christian Science is my mainstay. I am learning more about God and the power of the Christ.

Sandra J. Rygel
Santa Monica, California

The Mother Church is The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts. Its branches are called Churches of Christ, Scientist, and Christian Science Societies.