In April of 1998 an ugly growth appeared on my face. By early summer the growth was about the size of a dime, and it was right next to my nose, where I could see it every time I looked into the mirror to shave or comb my hair. Fortunately, I was quite tan, so others generally didn't notice it. I knew that "the Bible contains the recipe for all healing" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 406). So I went to the Bible for help. I found this statement: "The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night" (Ps. 121:6). This was a great comfort.

Searching further, I read where Christ Jesus said, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). This, I knew, was the true spiritual light, which could not hurt me; it could only bless me. Science and Health explains, "God, Spirit, dwelling in infinite light and harmony from which emanates the true idea, is never reflected by aught but the good" (pp. 503–504).

I prayed each day, using the truths I discovered from my study of the Bible and Science and Health. I noticed that the growth stopped getting larger, but it was still there every time I had to look into the mirror. Then I remembered that when I was a student in a Christian Science Sunday School many years before, I'd had a nice healing of a skin condition. At that time, the teacher had discussed with my class of twelve-year-old boys the fact that children can be healers, too. She read from the Bible in Luke where it is recorded that when Jesus was just a young boy, his parents found him in the temple, discussing the Scriptures with the priests and doctors of the law (see chap. 2:42–52). That impressed me.

As I was waiting for a bus to take me home from church that same day, I reasoned that I should be able to heal myself of the many warts that were on my arms and legs. From my Sunday School teaching, I had learned that God never made anything harmful to man. Thus I knew He couldn't and wouldn't make anything like warts. I also knew the teacher had told us we should not be impressed by disease. Therefore, I decided I would no longer look at the warts or touch them, since they were only a lie about my true selfhood as a child of a loving Father-Mother God. That was my Christian Science treatment, and in about three weeks they were all gone and did not return.

Thinking about that healing, I realized that I could use the same spiritual ideas to heal the growth on my face. I turned to Science and Health for help. I found this statement: "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick" (pp. 476–477). I also thought about where the Scriptures state that Jesus healed the ten lepers (see Luke 17:12–14). He must have seen that awful picture of a dreaded disease, but it didn't hinder him from healing all ten lepers. Jesus must have beheld in his thought the true Godlike nature of those men, and that was what healed them. I began to apply this insight to my situation.

Now I was making real progress. I could see that the healing was taking place. But just then a new and more aggressive growth formed on my leg. It caused much discomfort, and my pants would constantly irritate it. Again I prayed to see what I needed to understand spiritually. Then it came to me that guilt was in my thought when I saw the condition. I knew that I wouldn't be bothered if I saw a mirage of water on the highway when driving on a hot summer day. I would just naturally dismiss it without a second thought, because I would not accept the mirage as real. I was not responsible for creating the mirage; I was responsible for how I reacted to it. I applied this truth to the new physical situation. This realization proved to be what was needed, and a complete healing soon followed.

Charles Hanson Kaehn
Sun City West, Arizona