A CONTINUAL JOY

BETSY FULGHUM—–TAMPA, FLORIDA

WHEN I WAS A CHILD, I was diagnosed with a birth defect in one of my ears. At the time, my family were not Christian Scientists. There were years of pain and weekly medical treatments, before finally a wonderful instantaneous healing came when I felt the presence and power of divine Love, as the result of my mother's prayer. My mother had found Christian Science through a friend and had herself been healed of a long-standing illness. I was ten years old when I had my healing, and this experience established early on my love for and trust in God.

My first steps in the public practice of Christian Science came some years later, after I'd joined The Mother Church and taken Christian Science class instruction. I was teaching a college-age class in Sunday School. And in order to prepare for the challenging questions that arose, I spent a lot of time each week in a deep study of the Christian Science Bible Lesson. The students had begun calling to ask me to pray for them, and then even some of their parents asked for treatment. Those years of teaching Sunday School put me on a wonderful path to spiritual growth—to loving the systematic study of Christian Science and putting into practice what I was learning.

When I asked my Christian Science teacher how I would know when to apply to advertise in The Christian Science Journal, his answer was, "Would you know if an elephant stepped on your toe?" Several years later it became just that obvious. An unwavering sense of certainty was present in my thoughts that the healing practice was what I was supposed to do. It was an answer to prayer. I was teaching at a university at the time, and I also had a large number of piano students. At the end of the term, I resigned my university post, and found teachers for all my music students. Then I immediately applied to advertise in the Journal as a practitioner and was accepted. That was 1978.

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