Children—and childlike thoughts—heal naturally

In Christian Science there are as many avenues to the healing of a particular problem as there are individuals seeking to be healed of it. One individual may find his awakening to Truth through the words of a hymn; another through pondering Scripture, especially the words of Christ Jesus; another through just sitting quietly and listening for inspiration. But all spiritual healings come as a result of a spiritual idea blowing away the cobwebs of mortal thought.

Sometimes people are troubled by wondering how a very young child can be healed through Christian Science. Children naturally trust the method that has always met their need. Even very young children readily learn to love and to practice the truths of Christian Science. Their innocent thought is receptive to spiritual ideas. They are not closed to the possibilities of Spirit. Free from the biases often associated with adulthood, they are experts at imbibing the spirit of Truth, which leads to healing. When I have struggled long to obtain a healing for myself, I remind myself to be more childlike so that I, like my children, can respond quickly to the spiritual ideas that come to me.

A simple spiritual idea is often all that is needed to bring healing. I have found with my own children that a simple and joyous truth has a powerful healing effect. Sometimes with the children, we even sing the truth or clap our hands to it. When the emphasis shifts from the problem to the inspiration, healing comes naturally and effortlessly.

One week the Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly included the passage "Spirit, God, is heard when the senses are silent" (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health, p. 89 ). I found myself coming back again and again to this idea throughout the week. At the time our son was a toddler. Shortly thereafter he was challenged with an earache. I held him on my lap, and a small poem came to thought based on that passage:

As we said this aloud, and clapped our hands to it, he stopped crying. This poem reminded me that, as God's spiritual offspring, we have no material senses; real hearing is a spiritual faculty, maintained by God. And so there is no sense of hearing that can report pain. I told our son that all we could listen to was good thoughts from God. Soon he was entirely well.

On another occasion a friend of mine was in severe pain. She asked her three-year-old son to pray for her. He began to march through the house, slapping panels on the wall, and with each slap declared loudly a synonym for God: "Principle [slap] Mind [slap] Soul [slap] Spirit ... Life ... Truth ... Love." It was an emphatic reminder to my friend of the allness of God and the nothingness of evil. This child's pure trust in declaring the synonyms for God and relating other simple truths he had learned in Sunday School met her need. She was quickly free from pain.

Recently our young daughter was troubled by stomach pains. She was so busy crying, it was hard for her to listen to anything but the problem. But she has had many healings in Christian Science, and through her wailing, she was trying to pray. Another little verse came to thought:

This made her smile, and we both said, "Oh, no! that's not right!" We learn in Christian Science that any discord is an "error" about our true spiritual being. Sickness has no legitimacy on any day. All that is ever present is God, good. A knowledge of this brings healing. So we tried again:

By this time she was dancing down the hallway to the words—without any pain. Of course, we know evil is not a real something to be addressed as though we were speaking to it, but we can address its nothingness in much the same way Christ Jesus did when he said, "Get thee behind me, Satan" (Matt. 16:23 ). In putting the problem out of thought, we can truly put it behind us and find our health and freedom.

I am always glad when these clear and songlike inspirations come to consciousness. They remind me that truth is always simple, though profound, not difficult nor complex. Childlike thought is open to healing. We are all able to be childlike. It is a quality that is part of our heritage as children of God.