Article December 23, 2013 Issue

Insights on the Gadarene's plea

Yvonne Renoult

When a child experiences a Christian Science healing, it is often the result of the spiritual growth of the parent. This was certainly the case for me. When I was a toddler, my parents discovered that my foot had developed at an abnormal angle with the arch rolled over, restricting my ability to walk correctly. At this time my mother had become a serious student of Christian Science and decided to take Primary class instruction in Christian Science.

Although my mother had been praying about my foot before she started class, she said that all anxiety about my foot entirely left her thought during class as she directed her focus on learning about God and our relationship to Him. When she returned home, she found that the healing of my foot had taken place. I remember my mother explaining that the straightening of my foot was a natural outcome of the alignment of her thought to what was good and true (see testimony by Ann S. Renoult, The Christian Science Journal, April 1960, pp. 215–216). That was my first encounter, albeit indirectly, with class instruction.

Although I attended Sunday School and had wonderful Sunday School teachers throughout my childhood, I got off the track in my late teens. Because my relationship with my family was going through some ups and downs, I decided to leave home as quickly as I could after graduating from high school. I soon began experimenting with drugs and developed a relatively steady habit of binge drinking. I lived a rather self-absorbed, indulgent lifestyle. Nevertheless, whenever I got into a tight spot, I often—or perhaps, sporadically—called a wonderful, patient Sunday School teacher, who was a Christian Science practitioner. He always lovingly supported me with prayer. Still, I was what they call a “tea bag” Christian Scientist—the kind that only prays when in hot water.