Dyslexia healed
It’s often said that fear is a state of mind. In one person’s mind, dangling over a cliff on a rope causes fear, while another individual may enjoy the experience. I used to teach abseiling (or rappelling) and was of the latter mind-set. For me, fear was having to read in front of others, or write something for someone else to read. I felt that my writing and speaking skills were nonexistent, and this caused my self-image to wither. Furthermore, in 1970 an educational psychologist diagnosed me as dyslexic. For years I accepted that there was really nothing I could do to escape the tyranny of this disability.
Yet, despite my apathy, God was present the whole time revealing to me that I could achieve more, that I was capable of overcoming the delusion of a slow tongue and a crippled mind. As Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “Science reveals the possibility of achieving all good, and sets mortals at work to discover what God has already done; …” (p. 260 ).
As I prayed, it occurred to me that fear does not really touch any of us. Fear would try to blind us to the presence of God and His love for us. It never touches us. As Mrs. Eddy said in Science and Health, “A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive” (p. 463 ). Thus, as a spiritual idea of God, I knew that I could remove the error of fear, for it never had a place in consciousness.
I knew that God had a unique purpose for me, and that it could be revealed to me. I found daily encouragement—here was a glimmer of light; there, a recognition of Truth; often, a mental push in the right direction. Always I had the sweet confidence that God surrounded me with His love. I could never feel superior to another as my estimation of myself started so low, but divine Mind led me to see that I was never inferior, and that I was entitled to an equal share of God’s love. As the stone of resistance slowly eroded, I saw that resistance for what it really was: nothing but a false image of my true being. God was causing me to do the very thing that mortal mind tried to prevent me from doing—that was to write and speak.
I became the Second Reader in our Christian Science branch church. This was a trial that made me work harder than my regular job, which was laboring on a building site. My parents lovingly helped me to correct my mistakes in reading aloud during the week so that I could do a good job on Sundays. Going back to work on Mondays on the building site was easy in comparison!
The more I read, the easier it became. I felt God leading me on with love. One Wednesday night, the First Reader (who is responsible for compiling a set of readings from the Bible and Science and Health and delivering these readings during Wednesday meetings) had a family emergency and asked if I could take her place. As she handed her books over to me, I knew God was guiding me to take the next step of progress. Though I was totally unprepared to read, I read without mistakes. The service was a success. The joy I felt could not be expressed in words.
The healing did not stop there. At one point, ideas for a story kept coming to me and I felt God was impelling me to write it. We bought a second-hand computer, and I found its spell-check feature helpful. And although I had a lot to learn about grammar and punctuation and sentence structure, I knew God had not brought me all this way to abandon me.
I continued to follow God’s direction along these lines from Isaiah: “Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (30:21 ). Once I’d written the story, I found that my reading had improved as well. For many years, I had tried reading novels, and many times I had failed. Now, to my delight, I found that after finishing a book, I could both understand the narrative and remember it. Now I devour as many books as I can.
My writing continued to improve so much that now I have started writing novels. Although I have not been published yet, I’m so grateful that God has been preparing me and continues to guide me into the path of truth, overcoming other fears.
It is everyone’s right and privilege to overcome their trials and to walk the path to healing with joy, knowing God’s ability to work out His purpose.
Peter Wilson
Stanwell, Queensland, Australia
