Testimony of Healing January 26, 1998 Issue

Ballet dancer healed

Haley Henderson

Each week since its beginning in 1898, the Christian Science Sentinel has published a representative sample of verified testimonies of healing, told in their own words by men, women, and children throughout the world.

One day in ballet class during an intensive summer ballet program I suddenly had an intense pain in my knee that prevented me from walking comfortably, much less dancing. I immediately affirmed my freedom from any limitations or problems that are expected to occur from so many long, hard hours of dance. I asked the teacher if I could be excused and went and called my mother, who immediately called a Christian Science practitioner for prayerful treatment. My mother assured me that she was praying for me, also, and reminded me that as a dancer I expressed beauty, poise, and grace—not pain, suffering, or fear.

That night when I went back to the dorm where I was staying, I had great difficulty getting up the stairs to my room (there was no elevator). Before I went to sleep, I lay in bed and studied Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. I turned to the Lord's Prayer, with its spiritual interpretation (see Matt. 6:9–13 and Science and Health, pp. 16–17), and pondered the many truths I read. When I came to the line that says, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," I realized what needed correcting in this situation. I did not have to try to heal a bad knee that was overworked and injured. What I needed to do was "stand porter at the door of thought." Science and Health assures us: "Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will controlyourself harmoniously" (p. 392). Injury was no part of dancing, because I dance to glorify God and express endless spiritual qualities. God would never hinder this glorification for a second, and nothing else could ever affect me.