Testimony of Healing August 19, 1996 Issue

One winter day many years ago, my mother asked me if I would...

Michael Foster

One winter day many years ago, my mother asked me if I would go up on the roof and break away some icicles. It was very windy and icy, and when I reached the top of the ladder, I slipped and fell the full two stories. I landed on my side on the concrete driveway. I was unable to move, and there was no one nearby to help me. I was a very new student of Christian Science at that time and found myself turning to it simply because I had no other option at hand. I did not have a clear understanding of how to pray for myself, but I did know "the scientific statement of being" found in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. Part of it reads, "All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all" (p. 468).

I began to ponder the meaning of the words "All-in-all." I was beginning to see that All is infinitely vast, and I reasoned that Mind must be infinitely good and all-powerful. I knew from reading the Bible that God created everything very good, as the first chapter of Genesis states. This enlightened understanding of God being all presence, everywhere, making all spiritual and good, enabled me to see that no condition, circumstance, or accident could have any place to make itself known or believed. Then, quite suddenly, I realized that I was well. Within just thirty minutes of my fall, I was able to rise and return to my normal activities, free from any harmful effects.

On another occasion, several years later, I was serving as a houseparent at a private boarding school. There were times when I felt that I would like to leave my position at the school. One boy in particular appeared to be very troublesome, and he caused me much anxiety. As I earnestly sought to see this boy's wholesome and spiritual worth, I turned again to the Bible and the first chapter of Genesis, where I read "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him" (verse 27). I prayed daily with this spiritual fact. Then one day when the boy mistakenly thought that I had given my notice to resign, I asked him if that was a tear I was seeing in his eye. He answered by asking me if that was a tear in my eye. The shock of his candid response broke the dreamlike sense that said there was an unmanageable boy in my care. At that very moment it felt as though God was speaking to me, and from that time I was able to see the boy as God's own cherished child—worthy, intelligent, faithful, and productive. This resulted in a harmonious association between us, and it continued until the school year was over. He graduated with honor. I am truly grateful for the spiritual lessons that radiate from our Father's grace through the study of Christian Science.

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