Testimony of Healing December 22, 1997 Issue

When I was confronted with what appeared to be a bad heart...

Kathleen Bruce

When I was confronted with what appeared to be a bad heart condition over thirty years ago, it was natural for me, as a student of Christian Science, to turn to the Bible and to Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy to find healing. I studied all the references I could find in these books to the word heart, and endeavoured to put into practice what I was learning from my reading. A Christian Science practitioner treated me through prayer during this time, also.

This condition appeared to be associated with severe breathing problems. Even mild exertion would leave me gasping for breath. Because I turned to it so often in my prayer, I became very familiar with this verse from the Bible: "The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life" (Job 33:4). I would affirm it to myself over and over. I also found a verse from Second Timothy very helpful: "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (1:7).

At one point, I read a newspaper article that asserted that heart conditions are due entirely to the emotional state of the person experiencing them. This reminded me of the definition of heart in the Glossary of Science and Health: "Heart . Mortal feelings, motives, affections, joys, and sorrows" (p. 587). My prayerful study also led me to a deep search for the meaning of the word love in both the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings and to the realisation of the big difference between a merely human sense of love, which so often binds and limits us and our loved ones, and the Christly love Jesus expressed on the cross when he said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). I felt such wonderful love and gratitude, and was released from fear and self-imposed responsibilities.