Healthy living is spiritual living

Tanya healed of pneumonia

In 1999, when I was in ninth grade, I became ill and saw a doctor. The doctors couldn't make a diagnosis for a long time. Finally, they took an X-ray of my lungs and said that I had pneumonia. By this time, my mom and I had been studying Christian Science for four years.

When I was thinking about what to do after this news, the thought came to me that God was the healer, and that I could do without medicine — without any material methods of treatment.

So I didn't take any of the pills or injections that the doctors prescribed for me. Instead, I turned to my mom for help, and we began to pray together for healing.

I began to diligently read the book Science and Health, and also the Bible. At the end of Science and Health there's a chapter of healings written by people who had had many different problems and diseases. There are tons of practical ideas in this chapter that helped me a lot. The most important ones, to me, were that God is the source of health, and that God is Love. I am like a ray of His light, and I can't be sick. I can only be healthy, because I come from God.

Within two weeks, I was healed of the pneumonia. The doctors X-rayed my lungs again and diagnosed me with chronic bronchitis. I prayed and was healed of the bronchitis, as well. Now, all is OK with my lungs.

I have learned that it's important to trust God completely in these situations, and never to lose our spiritual inspiration. We dwell in His spirit, His love, every moment.

Tanya Gnedikova
Yaroslavl', Russia

Jaime healed of a rash — and resentment toward a dorm-mate

I had never been so angry with anyone.

Not only did she have little respect for anyone else's ideas, but she was inconsiderate, rude, obnoxious, and loud-mouthed. And she brought out the very worst in me. I simply couldn't stand to be around her, and not a day went by that I didn't have to see her.

During my freshman year of college, this girl and I lived in the same dorm and had the same class schedule — there was no escape.

After one particularly infuriating day, I called my mom to “vent.” Before I could even fill her in on the latest news, she reminded me that love is always the answer to whatever problem we have. This was not what I wanted to hear. I wanted someone to sympathize with me, to tell me that I was justified in feeling offended.

I got off the phone, feeling extremely dissatisfied. Deep down, I knew the only solution was to pray about this. But I also knew that if I prayed, I would have to grow, and that was something I was not prepared to do. So I went to bed.

When I woke up the next morning, I was surprised to find an extremely unattractive and somewhat painful rash all over my face and neck. All I could think of was that not only did I have to see this person every day, but now I also had to deal with a rash.

I struggled through a good part of the week, thinking like this, until I was finally humble enough to turn to God for an answer. He showed me that, incredible as it seemed to me, my physical problem and the problem with my dorm-mate were connected. It had never occurred to me before that these two problems could be linked. But in a book that explains how to heal spiritually and scientifically, I read: “A moral question may hinder the recovery of the sick” (Science and Health, p. 419 ). I realized that, in my particular situation, this meant I wasn't going to rid myself of the rash until I rid myself of the real problem: the irritating, unforgiving thoughts I had about my dorm-mate Whether I wanted to or not, I would have to heal these thoughts and learn how I could love her. But I hadn't the faintest idea about where to begin. Then I remembered an article I had read called “Taking Offense,” in Mary Baker Eddy's Miscellaneous Writings. It says in part: “It is our pride that makes another's criticism rankle, our self-will that makes another's deed offensive, our egotism that feels hurt by another's self-assertion. Well may we feel wounded by our own faults; but we can hardly afford to be miserable for the faults of others” (p. 224 ). As I read this, it became clear to me that any problem I had with my dorm-mate was not her fault, but mine. I didn't have to react to anything she did. I didn't have to gossip. I didn't have to be disrespectful. I didn't have to feel offended. Every single moment, I had a choice to make: I could either act with love or react with irritation and anger.

I was grateful to see how I could be better, but that still didn't excuse her behavior. She had no right to treat people poorly.

“Why should I love someone like that?” I asked myself.

“Because God does!” was the answer that immediately popped into mind. That was a good enough reason for me.

For the remainder of the week, I really tried to put these ideas into practice. I went into class every day, knowing that when I was around my dorm-mate, I was in the presence of the child of God. I did my best to understand that we were both expressions of Love, or God, and that nothing hateful or offensive could come from our expression of God. This helped me become aware of the many good qualities that she had that I hadn't appreciated before — her wit, humor, spirit, and integrity. I began to respect her ideas and value her opinions. And I went out of my way to let her know this.

By the end of the week, the rash on my face and neck had disappeared. It never came back. But the real blessing was the relationship that developed between the two of us. It's now three years later, and we're still at the same school and still friends.

Jaime Leeann Hawks
Sierra Madre, California, USA

Lars healed of a bad sprain

Last January we had the first and only snow day at my university in North Carolina, and my roommates took me out sledding. We had a hill behind our house, and behind that hill were woods. We took a lid from a dumpster, and two or three of us sledded down the hill on the lid, all at one time. On the very first try, I hit my right foot against a tree stump at the bottom. It hurt a lot, and it felt like I had twisted it.

The very next day, Friday, my foot was so big it looked like a soccer ball. I couldn't walk, I couldn't go to school, I couldn't do anything.

I was all by myself in the US, so I called my parents in Germany and told them what had happened. Because I thought a bone might be broken, I decided to wait until my roommate got home, and then ask him to take me to the health service center at my university. I also wanted to get crutches so that I could move around by myself.

But first of all, I called a Christian Science practitioner in the area, and asked her if she would pray for me. She said she would.

After our conversation, one of my first thoughts was: “A tree is as much a creation of God as I am. And one idea of God can't hurt another one. His ideas move in harmony — complementing each other, instead of hurting each other.”

While I was waiting for my roommate, I started to read the Weekly Bible Lesson in German, my native language. The subject of the lesson was “Mind,” which, to me, is a synonym for God. There were a lot of helpful ideas in it about how good, fun activities can't end badly, since they come from God.

When my roommate came back, he took me to the health service center. The doctor examined my foot and said it was a bad sprain. He gave me crutches and a prescription for a painkiller, and I said to him, “Thank you for offering me the prescription, but I want to rely on prayer instead.” And the doctor replied, “Well, that's probably the best medicine.”

I went home and talked to my parents again. It was comforting to know that my parents, my grandparents, and the practitioner were all praying for healing. What was even more amazing to me was that they were all far away — my parents were a few thousand miles away in Germany, and the practitioner lived about a hundred miles west of me. It was great to know that distance didn't really matter — God was everywhere, even in Greenville, North Carolina!

My roommate and my friend were giving me their opinions about which painkillers to use and which not to use. I knew that they were trying to help me, rather than wanting to interfere. And in that Bible lesson on Mind, I read something about drugs that I thought was so cool. It's this: “If we understood the control of Mind over body, we should put no faith in material means.” And later, “There can be no healing except by this Mind, however much we trust a drug or any other means towards which human faith or endeavor is directed” (Science and Health, p. 1 69 ).

I also remembered a song by the hip-hop/R&B group Mary Mary (which has its roots in gospel music), which has a great rhythm and really inspiring lyrics. It's called “Shackles (Praise You),” and one of the verses says:

‘Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance I just wanna praise you I just wanna praise you You broke the chains now I can lift my hands And I'm gonna praise you I'm gonna praise you.”

I was thinking about these words in terms of my foot — that the injury was kind of like a shackle. And I thought, “Take off my shackle.” I just kept singing the song whenever I felt pain coming in my foot. It reminded me of what Jesus said to the man waiting for the water to move at the pool of Bethesda, in Jerusalem, so that he could be healed: “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk” (John 5:8 ). It was just what I needed to do.

That same night I went out. It was Friday, and I went downtown to have dinner with a couple of friends. By then, I was already using only one crutch. That was pretty amazing to me — that I felt comfortable walking downtown, through the crowd, having fun, and not being distracted by this injury.

I continued studying the Bible lesson and talking with the practitioner during the weekend. I especially liked the idea that both the tree stump and I, we're part of this great creation of this one Mind — not hurting each other and not in the way of each other. It was really cool that I had all the answers for my healing in this one lesson.

On Monday, I went to school without any crutches, and soon after I was playing sports again. It was a quick healing. And it was so cool that my roommates were supportive of my choice of healing methods.

I was so sure that prayer is actually good medicine. And it is.

Lars Oliver Bremer
Friedrichsdorf, Germany

LYRICS TO “SHACKLES (PRAISE YOU)”
BY ERICA ATKINS AND TRECINA ATKINS.
©2000 EMI APRIL MUSIC, INC.
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