Laughter on the road to healing

"Fear that surgery would be needed faded away, and the healing that had begun with laughter was quickly complete."

By Marian English

A fourth-grade Sunday School class was discussing rules for spiritual healing. To build some groundwork for the discussion, the class was taking turns reading aloud a paragraph in the Christian Science textbook that gives practical steps for relying on the divine law of healing, as Christ Jesus did.

The paragraph begins, "When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea" (Science and Health, p. 495). The next sentence, "Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought," was misread by a student, and it came out like this: "Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your throat." She quickly caught the mistake, laughed, and the class laughed with her. It was a lighthearted moment that removed any awkwardness and boredom and allowed the students to plunge into profound ideas with the liveliness and good humor so natural to them.

The next day, a friend called the teacher of that class to ask for help through prayer. A piece of a plastic fork had become lodged in her throat, and the suggestion that surgery would be required to remove it was aggressive. Remembering the student's mistaken version of the directive to allow only God's likeness to remain in thought, the teacher related it to her friend, and they both laughed, promising each other to be obedient to that directive.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Laughter on the road to healing

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access