Article July 14, 2008 Issue

GOD DELIGHTS IN US

A healing of the symptoms of cholera

BY FAABA BICO BOIMA

THE WONDERFUL THING about Christian Science healing is that it leaves you not only well physically, but with new insight or understanding about your relationship with God. Often that's the most memorable part of the healing because it shows that God is Love and cares for all His creation—which is what I saw so clearly this past March.

One day I began to experience vomiting and other severe symptoms associated with cholera, a disease that is common in my country. These symptoms recurred every few minutes, and became stronger and more painful—as if the wind was being knocked out of me. I didn't know at the time what the condition might be called, but I felt it was serious enough to stay home from work to deal with it in prayer.

I started redirecting my thinking, as I'd been taught to do in Christian Science, away from fear and pain to confidence in God's healing power. I read passages of comforting ideas from Science and Health and the Bible. But I still did not feel God's love, and I wasn't particularly feeling love for God either. The vomiting and frequent diarrhea continued into the next day. And as I studied and prayed, I felt I was reading words, without really getting the spirit of them.