Testimony of Healing January 8, 1996 Issue

For several years there had been a noticeable growth on one...

Robert L. Eichelberger

For several years there had been a noticeable growth on one of my eyelids. It didn't hurt, and most people were too polite to mention it, so I didn't get very serious about healing it through Christian Science. It got larger, however, and began causing some difficulty in my vision. When I went for an update on my prescription for glasses, the optometrist said that it would be difficult to check the vision in that eye and suggested that a dermatologist could easily remove the growth. I thanked her for her advice. And I was grateful for it, as it made me realize that it was time to pray for a permanent healing of the condition.

When I asked a Christian Science practitioner for prayerful help, I commented that this was not a life-threatening condition. The immediate firm response, "Nothing threatens Life!" showed clearly that she understood God to be Life. Christian Science treatment was, of course, lovingly given. The practitioner and I prayed together over a period of several months. One of the first lessons I learned was that I didn't need to get rid of the "thing" on my eye. My real need, as it always is, was for greater spiritual understanding. There were many passages from the Bible, and from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, that awakened my thought at various times during this period. Perhaps the most important was the memorable sentence "A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive" (p. 463). I realized that the first clause of that sentence was the most important to me. I needed to understand that I am a spiritual idea, or else the rest of the statement is irrelevant.

Although that realization was a turning point in my understanding, the condition seemed to get worse. I knew that healing was occurring, however, because my thought was changing and I was understanding God better. At my regular appointment for tooth cleaning, the dentist was concerned about my eye. During this period I continue to serve my regular half day a week in our church's Christian Science Reading Room, although I was concerned about what visitors might think when they saw me. The practitioner commented that people are often working out some problem or other, even though these problems may not be visible. Mrs. Eddy tells us, "Earth's preparatory school must be improved to the utmost" (ibid., p. 486). This comforted me, and I continued my regular schedule.

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