I AM PLEASED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE GREAT benefits I have received from my daily study of Christian Science. I have witnessed Truth overcoming error in many different ways, and here I feel impelled to share one of my recent healings in which many difficulties were overcome without the help of time.

It was this year in March that my family was experiencing the climax of what seemed to be hard times. Our business was stagnant, and we were almost starving. I had earlier resolved to swap duties in the house with my wife, who was feeling unwell.

One morning, I had just finished deep frying some cookies for our breakfast. When I lifted the pan up from the cooker, my grip slipped so that the boiling oil spilled onto my left arm. The pan was very hot, but I managed to place it down on the floor.

I was alone in the kitchen. So many thoughts crossed my mind about which action to take. One suggestion I thought of was to shout out for help and apply some petroleum jelly as a form of first aid. Yet another suggestion came that I apply some cold water from a jug just next to me. My mind was as tangled as my hair.

The pain increased until I found a place to sit. Then came the thought, "Now I shall have an ugly arm with a permanent scar caused by this burn."

As I sat there, I remembered what Christ Jesus would, in effect, communicate, according to many of his healing accounts: "Keep your peace."

"Yes, Lord," I found myself saying. "Why should I lose my peace?" I thought. I came back to myself. I realized that I needed to forgive my wife. She had scolded our four-year-old son for pouring tea on the table when I was cooking. I then noticed that I was upset about the way she had talked to our child.

I knew I needed to clear myself of these thoughts. Mary Baker Eddy's words that I had read the previous night ran through my mind. I had been praying to know that it was right for my wife's health to improve, when I read these words in Science and Health on page 159: "Ignorant of the fact that a man's belief produces disease and all its symptoms, the ordinary physician is liable to increase disease with his own mind, when he should address himself to the work of destroying it through the power of the divine Mind." These words helped me now, and for a moment I realized that the pain on my arm had subsided. But then when I looked at my arm, the pain actually increased.

There and then I became certain that Christian Science was going to heal my situation. I stood up and decided to carry on with my duties instead of just sitting there. I changed my shirt and wore a long-sleeved one to avoid looking at the burn. It wasn't helpful to look, because turning away from my real spiritual identity, by examining matter, only brought more pain. I then joined the rest of the family at the table for breakfast.

I would occasionally feel pain, but I kept assuring myself that accidents are "unknown to God." This is from a quote in Science and Health: "Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God's unerring direction and thus bring out harmony" (p. 424).

I knew that God's ideas, His children, always obey their Creator. Soon I began to see my wife as naturally loving and our child as obedient. I also noticed on that day I was most selective of the words I used when talking to my family and neighbors. I made sure I spoke in a kind and loving manner. I believed that by speaking in a kind and selective manner, this would ensure that I checked out every sinful element of thinking that would hinder my healing. My inspiration at that time was again, "Keep your peace," which I resolved to protect when coming back to a realization of God's powerful presence.

On the next day, I decided to tell my wife, who is still new to Christian Science, what had befallen me. She was surprised. She suggested that I apply some petroleum jelly to my arm, but I decided to keep my peace and continue to pray. I told her that the pain was worse at the onset, but now I felt the burn already healing and that I'd been praying about it through Christian Science.

On the third day after the incident, my wife said she was feeling well. Although I hadn't been specifically praying for my wife, I was praying for my family and myself to be able to see things in a true nature; to realize harmony in our life at that particular time.

When I went to take a shower, most of the swellings that had developed on my arm drained naturally. Soon our business also started picking up, and customers who had long disppeared started to call back.

On the fourth day, I noticed my arm had been restored to normal and there was no scar. When our son told a neighbor about my experience, the neighbor inquired about the medicine I had used to get that quick healing. My answer, of course, was "Christian Science." |css