Healed through praising God

The Bible, especially in the book of Psalms, tells us to praise God. I learned the uplifting value of praising God in the midst of trying circumstances. About three and a half years ago, I was badly in need of healing. I was in pain when I ate and after, and had lost 40 pounds. I felt weak and was afraid of the symptoms.

I prayed and asked a Christian Science practitioner to pray with me. Since I had experienced healings throughout my life with the application of Christian Science, I was confident this was the way to healing. The Psalmist says: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases” (Psalms 103:2, 3 ). I expected this to be true in my experience.

I began to feel divine Love lifting me to understand more clearly that because God, Spirit, is all, everything in God’s universe is already spiritual and perfect, as the Creator is. Because God, Spirit, is the only cause and creator, disease is neither a cause nor an effect; it is not a reality at all. I came to see that the symptoms were only the argument of mortal mind; they were suggestions, false beliefs. What the body was doing was not the issue. It couldn’t tell me the truth. My perfection as God’s reflection was already established, despite what the material senses were saying.

This understanding gave me the strength to turn away from the symptoms and the body to the truth. These lines from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy were foundational to this growth in understanding: “Rise in the conscious strength of the spirit of Truth to overthrow the plea of mortal mind, alias matter, arrayed against the supremacy of Spirit” (pp. 390–391 ).

What finally brought me through to regained health was an improvement in my attitude. I felt I was being asked by God to maintain during the day and night an attitude described by Hymn 462 , “Simply Praising Him” by Susan Mack, found in the Christian Science Hymnal Supplement. I pondered and sang this hymn to myself for several weeks. It says: “Praise the Creator. Let all within me sing! / For that’s what I am made to do, and comfort it will bring.” The physical problem disappeared and has never returned. 

We are made to praise God. Praising the goodness and perfection of God and His creation, even in the face of material evidence suggesting the opposite, is what we are to do. And according to the hymn, this brings comfort, courage, stillness, and goodness. It felt good to praise the Creator. It felt natural and right to do so. And inevitably, this praising leads to healing, as it did for me. Praise the Creator! 

Van Driessen
Bondurant, Wyoming, US

I am Van’s wife and watched his amazing progress in this healing. Since I am a Christian Science lecturer, my work keeps me on the road for long periods of time, and we have needed to move several times for my work, which necessitated Van finding new work each time in spite of a long-established career in one place. I had allowed my own heavy schedule to dominate my attention and did not notice how much he had been struggling physically until a family member pointed out the seriousness of his condition. 

It was a wake-up call to me to get more balance in my life and to be more supportive of my husband, who had been so supportive of my demanding schedule. We moved to a location where we could have more quiet time to pray. But by then the physical condition seemed to be so severe that Van mentioned several times that he felt he was going to pass out or pass on.

One day, he stood up in great distress and then collapsed to the floor unconscious, hitting his head on the wall. He lay there without moving. I realized I could not accept this lie about him, because we both knew clearly that God, Spirit, is our Life eternally, and that divine Life is always present, always maintaining us. I knew too that the Christ message is always speaking to human consciousness and that nothing could keep him from hearing the truth. 

I began talking to him about his oneness with God and the fact that the one divine Mind was speaking to him right then and there about this wholeness. He could listen and obey. He came to and was able to resume his work. Over the next year, we both prayed to praise God through our obedience to the two great Commandments—to love God supremely and trust His care and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Not only did Van completely recover his health, but our marriage also became so much stronger. Van now expresses more strength and freedom than I’ve seen in our ten years of marriage, and we find we are both supporting each other’s work as healers much more consistently.