LIKE THOSE in many other countries, Australia's healthcare system appears to be in crisis. Medical costs keep rising, funding for hospitals has blown out, and now Medicare (our country's universal healthcare system) is under pressure to be privatized.

When Medicare first started in Australia, all eligible citizens were issued with a card that entitled them to free medicine and treatment as a public (Medicare) patient in a public hospital. Later, when people had to formally apply for the card, I declined to do so. For many years prior to this, I'd practiced spiritual healing as taught in Christian Science, and when I had a physical need, I'd always prayed and been healed without the use of drugs or surgery. I have had many healings as the result of understanding that God is the source of health and that He is maintaining my life.

During the next 18 years, I still saw no reason to possess a card. Then two years ago a friend was injured in a traffic accident and taken to hospital for treatment. When he said he didn't have a Medicare card and couldn't pay the large medical bill, hospital administrators were faced with this loss. As it turned out, he qualified for a government requirement, and Medicare reimbursed the hospital.

When I saw the difficulties encountered by someone without a Medicare card in an emergency situation, I prayed about what I should do. I wasn't about to relinquish my practice of prayer-based healing, nor was I planning to employ medical means. God has always been my only physician, and He always will be.

The question as to whether to have a Medicare card or not, I decided, needed to be considered from an insurance perspective. Most people have insurance coverage on their house and its contents. They also carry compulsory third party plus motor vehicle insurance on their cars. Even when knowing that God takes care of us in every circumstance, it's good to recognize that each one of us has a role to play in being receptive to this fact, too. That's why, for example, it's a good idea to be security conscious.

I take seriously these words of Jesus: "If the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through" (Luke 12:39). "Watching" for most of us means taking all the normal steps to secure our property and person, including being insured. But to me, it also means praying seriously about safety, protection, and well-being.

I do this by affirming that God is our defense. He is always supplying each one of us with right ideas that lead to the maintenance of our security. Fear dissolves in the understanding that God is always with us, guiding and guarding. He watches over us day and night. Because of this, evil intentions have no power to cause mischief. God's powerful love is like a shield preserving us from harm.

A few months later, after much thought, I went along to the Medicare office to apply for a card. I reasoned that at least I would be recorded in the system for insurance purposes, even though not actually using it. When I gave a young woman my details, she was astounded by the fact that in more than 20 years I'd never been to a doctor or taken drugs, and never used a Medicare card—she said she was on her fourth. I was grateful that I had a reliable spiritual system of healthcare that had met my need for over 45 years. This system of Christ-healing, explained in the Bible and Mary Baker Eddy's book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, is what is enabling this healthy life.

Although people might have Medicare cards, or any other form of insurance, that doesn't mean they need to participate in the notion that they need ever use it. Why? Because it's possible to trust that health and safety are not accidental, nor is life at the mercy of random acts of chance. Through prayer, we can trust more and more that God governs and maintains the well-being of all of His people. The divine law of harmony is ours to experience whether we have a Medicare card or not, since God is always keeping us secure in His care.