Freedom from stomach distress

My teenage daughter and I were vacationing in a country where I did not know anyone. One night after dinner, I began experiencing a severe stomachache. That country had the reputation of having very unhealthy water, and I had been careful not to drink it. But we were staying at a hotel with a restaurant and all meals were included. I had been overeating, which gave me, in addition to the physical pain, a strong sense of guilt and regret. I did not know how to use the phone to call out of the country, so I was not able to call a Christian Science practitioner for help, which I would have done if I had been at home. In the past, Christian Science practitioners had helped me find healing of all sorts of challenges.

The pain was not lessening, so I thought that if I drank some bottled sparkling water, the discomfort would subside a bit, but that did not help at all. I then asked my daughter to pray with me. She was 19 at the time, and we were used to praying together as a family. All of a sudden, my daughter heard me fall onto the bathroom floor, unable to move, sit, or stand. The pain was getting worse, and I turned to God for help with all my strength.

Sometime before my trip, a fellow member at my Christian Science church had shared a healing he had, explaining that the thought had come to him not only to think about the truths taught by Christian Science, but also to voice them aloud. So I started declaring aloud, together with my daughter, all that I could remember at that moment about God and God’s man. This was not a recipe or a list of magical formulas.

I had been studying Christian Science for the past 30 years, and had been using this Science to overcome all kinds of illnesses and problems. I had memorized numerous ideas concerning the spiritual nature of man—the fact that we are not physical bodies dominated by laws of matter, but spiritual beings—and also the fact that evil is not part of divine creation, and, in reality, cannot exist. Evil is a mental suggestion that needs to be denied in order to see it disappear.

Little by little, I started to deny with more and more conviction that there is any power in a material cause (water, any kind of food) and in its effects (pain, obstruction, illness). I affirmed the presence of God as all-power and all-good; I affirmed God’s love for the man and woman of His creation. Many ideas came to me about the goodness and the all-power of Spirit, God, and about the innocence of all His children—so many ideas that I cannot recall them all.

As I mentioned earlier, the pain had really made me turn to God unconditionally and wholeheartedly. This was a turning point. After a moment, I felt warmth inside my body; the pain lessened and quickly disappeared completely. I felt love and forgiveness for myself and for my host country, and a certain sense of never being separated from God.

This healing gave me the assurance that God is “a very present help in trouble” (Psalms 46:1 ) no matter where we may find ourselves. I really felt that “divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 494 ). For me this healing—one among many others I’ve experienced through applying my understanding of Christian Science in all sorts of situations—was not the fruit of chance but the result of the operation of the divine Principle of being.

Since then, I have also realized that overeating is not compatible with my life or with my strong desire to find a deeper peace based on a better understanding of God. Little by little, I am realizing that I can feel satisfied without overeating.

I am grateful for all the lessons learned from my study and practice of Christian Science. I know that we can always trust God for all that we need in life.

Hélène Brown
Elsah, Illinois, US