Pollen storm, but no allergies!
TMC Youth's website, time4thinkers.com, recently featured this article as a blog.
For as long as I can remember, I had experienced allergies to different elements outdoors such as grass, moldy leaves, and pollen. The worst of these was pollen. Every spring, the flowers would come into bloom, then the trees would begin to bud—and then my eyes would become irritated and turn a bright red, and I would begin to sneeze uncontrollably. All very beautiful . . . . Well, OK, the first part was!
By the time this spring trip came around, I’d had enough. Why couldn’t I just enjoy the season and be comfortable outside?
I quietly told myself that since I’d been healed of colds, influenza, dairy allergies, and even a dislocated shoulder from a fall, then I could be healed of this allergy, too.
It was time to deal with it.
It became clear that I could do what I was made to do, which was to grow spiritually and to be free of allergy symptoms, even while the trees continued doing what they were made to do. Both the trees and I are in God’s care and God knows my needs, even before I do. Mary Baker Eddy points out: “. . . God knows our need before we tell Him or our fellow-beings about it. If we cherish the desire honestly and silently and humbly, God will bless it . . .” (Science and Health, p. 13).
I had gone camping to be with my family and to hike, swim, and enjoy the out-of-doors. These were good and loving motives, and my prayer was helping me to see that nothing could keep me from enjoying these experiences. God was supplying the thoughts that I needed to think as I prayed about this situation, so I knew for sure that I could enjoy the freedom He gave me.
Whenever I went outside, I thought about a hymn I like from the Christian Science Hymnal (Minny M. H. Ayers, No. 427) and said it to myself, adding some specific thoughts of my own:
I walk with Love along the way,
And O, it is a holy day [a day to think more spiritually, to see things in a spiritual light];
No more I suffer cruel fear [or allergies],
I feel God’s presence [not the irritation of pollen] with me here [always, everywhere].
Thinking about the hymn that way helped me understand that allergies were powerless, nothing, and that pollen couldn’t actually do anything to me. It was just yellow powder, blowing in the wind, doing what God made it to do—and God’s purpose for it didn’t include causing me endless misery.
Both the trees and I are in God's care.
The prevalent belief about allergies seems so strong when you listen to advertisements for medicine to help allergy sufferers. But it is still only a belief because God didn’t create it, and it’s not the truth about me, or you, or any of God’s ideas. That particular weekend I kept up a running talk with myself, voicing the good thoughts that God was sending me. Shortly after that, the irritation left me.
My family camped a lot last summer, and we went on many hikes. And after that wonderful, prayer-filled weekend, I haven’t experienced itchy, watery eyes or sneezing because of pollen or anything else in the out-of-doors. I haven’t been ill either.
The following year the trees spread their pollen just like they do every spring. And I continued to experience the complete freedom from irritation that I had last summer. I spent time both at a cottage for a church Youth Summit retreat and camping with my family again, and I am enjoying my outdoor times immensely. This healing is another proof of the power of God’s love in my life and I know I can welcome spring from here on out.
