FOR THE JOY IT BRINGS

STORMY BECKER FALSO—MARIETTA, GEORGIA

IF ANYONE HAD TOLD ME that one day I'd be in the healing practice of Christian Science, I would have laughed. You see, as I walked out of my high school graduation, I was thinking, "Yippee, I never have to set foot in a Christian Science church again!" Free and independent—why be tied down to a church organization? I then dedicated myself to whatever would be fun.

I was sure I didn't need God. Then when something went wrong, I'd say, "God, just help me out of this jam, and I'll turn my life around." But I never kept my end of the bargain—even though He always kept His.

For a while after graduation I worked in a department store. One morning a co-worker pulled me aside. She'd been raped and beaten. So we found a quiet spot to talk. When I asked if she'd called the police, she said she couldn't, because she was a prostitute. As if a switch flipped inside me, I started pouring out love to her. What flooded out was an articulation of God's goodness. Ideas from Christian Science that I'd pushed out poured back in. By the end of our converstaion, her swollen eye and lip had returned to normal. I was in awe, and left that conversation realizing it was time for me to keep my end of the bargain with God. And within a couple of days her bruising had cleared up. She hadn't asked me to pray for her, but I felt that my inspiration had had a healing effect.

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