"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." These are the words of Jesus (John 8:32). The declaration of a spiritual truth, and the acceptance and realization of it, are indeed powerful. This was proved in a healing in our family.

As we lived some miles from the nearest city, when I went shopping there I would often visit members of our family who lived close by, before returning home. One day I felt drawn to visit our eldest daughter's home, as she was expecting a child very soon.

I found her somewhat upset. She had been to see the doctor, and was advised that she had an unusual amount of water weight, and that it would not be possible for her to deliver for some time. She had been given a strict diet and told to return in one week. She had already called the Christian Science practitioner who had been praying with her during her pregnancy. The practitioner had shared this with her: "I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and deliver you" (Isa. 46:4). This helped us both to realize that God was in control.

We visited for a short while, and these words from Science and Health came to me: "A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive" (p. 463). (Only later did I realize that these words are accompanied by the marginal heading "Scientific obstetrics.") We held to this truth, affirming it together.

A little while later I heard my daughter exclaim, "Oh, oh," and, as I came to where she was, an enormous amount of water was leaving her body. As I tended to this, was the start of the birth process. We got her things ready for a trip to the delivery room. My husband came along about this time, and we drove her there together.

In the waiting room at the hospital, we discovered that, after registering our daughter, we were left with some of her Christian Science books—the Bible, Science and Health, and the Christian Science Hymnal. The room was filled with people, and was very busy. A while later folks gradually left to visit or get a bite to eat, and we were alone. We took out those books, reading and praying, seeking to feel God's presence and power.

Quite soon the doctor came and told us that for some time he had been unable to detect a heartbeat in the baby, and that he was so sorry he had to report this. In fact, an anesthetist had been called and was standing by for possible surgery.

All at once, in the middle of this seemingly sad news, I found myself interrupting him by saying, "Doctor, I'm sorry but I cannot accept this." He said, "Oh, I almost forgot. Your daughter said to have you call someone, a practitioner, or somebody like that."

I phoned the practitioner immediately, and told her what the doctor had said. She assured me that "Life is eternal" (Science and Health, p. 246). I held to these three words, realizing they were the absolute truth. Picking up the Hymnal, I read in Hymn 82, "God is working His purpose out/...And the time is drawing near" I thought of God as our unfailing aid, and a present help.

My husband was praying with spiritual facts that came to him. And I knew for sure that our daughter was declaring what she knew to be true.

Before very long a nurse appeared and asked, "Would you like to see your grandson?" We went to see the beautiful baby boy. Our daughter said she had been praying all the time, repeating every truth she knew, right out loud. The nurses had wondered what she was saying, and one nurse said, "I don't know, but I think she is praying." The birth had proceeded, and the services of the anesthetist were not needed.

I am sure that God directed me to stop at our daughter's home that day, and that the fact that her books were left with us was the natural result of God's "working His purpose out." This grandson has just entered his first year of college and has been a good student and very athletic all his life.

More recently, while wading in the ocean and picking up seashells, I was stung on my ankles by a Portuguese man-of-war. I asked to be driven home, and turned my thoughts away from the injury to the realization of what I knew to be true of God and man. I reasoned that that creature had used its means of protection, and that I must utilize what I knew to be mine — the understanding that I was cared for, under the full protection of my Father-Mother God at all times. My husband read to me from the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, as the pain seemed intense, and a practitioner provided more prayerful help. The practitioner gave me this truth — that man lives outside of, and apart from, any sense of pain. During the rest of the day I was able to hold my thought to the contemplation of the spiritual facts I knew were true of me. To counteract the fear of poisoning, I declared that all that flowed through me was love. I spent a restful night and woke free from pain.

Several days later symptoms of the injury reappeared. After deeper study of Science and Health, and continued help from the practitioner, I found that the pain had been overcome. But the ugly evidence of blood poisoning still appeared. Only when I finally accepted the truth that nothing had ever touched or happened to the man of God's creating—and that therefore there could be no evidence to say that it had—was I fully healed. (Hundreds of people were being stung and the news media were full of such reports.) After I gained a conviction that God's good work was complete and unalterable, I was no longer concerned about any physical effects, and soon all evidence of the injury disappeared.

Daily I am learning more about my relation to God. With joy I accept the unfoldment of good, which is always coming to us from our Father-Mother God.

Marie H. Lezette
New Smyrna Beach, Florida

The birth of my son has been related accurately by my dear mother. At the time I recall reciting all the truths I could think of, and doing it aloud. The breech position of this baby was of great concern to the nurses. In a very short time after the doctor's initial announcement that there was no sign of life in the child, he was born, healthy and whole, which represents how God had created him. This child has blessed my life and brought much joy into our family.

Cherié L. Speer
Stottville, New York