Pain-free vision
A little over a year ago, I inadvertently poked myself pretty hard in one eye. It hurt quite a bit, and my immediate, intuitive response was to pray. I don’t remember now just how I prayed, but the pain subsided quickly and I went on with what I was doing.
A day or two later, my husband and I took off on a road trip to another state for a couple of days. Because my job requires a lot of reading, I’d brought many things with me to read in the car while my husband drove. But a few hours into the trip, my eye began to bother me. I had to close the eye and pull a hat down over it because it was so sensitive to light.
While I was in no shape to read, I was grateful that we had lots of uplifting things to listen to on our iPod. I listened to several audio recordings of articles from the “Anthology of Classic Articles,” produced by The Christian Science Publishing Society.
One article in particular really gave me a lot to think about. In his article “I See!” Noel D. Bryan-Jones describes meeting a young girl who couldn’t see because of a visible eye impairment (p. 63). The girl is cared for by Christian Scientists, and a few years later, the author encounters the girl again. He learns that she can see perfectly, even though her eyes appeared to be in the same condition as before. “She was literally seeing without the use of her eyes” he wrote. It was several more months before her eyes looked normal.
My husband had been praying with me, and we had acknowledged that vision is a spiritual quality that is not subject to any material condition and never depends on any material objects, organs, or nerves. Granted, this kind of thinking flies in the face of what the five physical senses tell us day in and day out. But the five senses are deceptive. In truth, we see through spiritual sense.
Much of my prayer was dedicated to thinking deeply about the fact that I have only spiritual sense because I am the reflection of Soul, God, who does the real seeing. I prayed to understand that these facts were ultimately true not just about me, but about every one of us. And hearing the story about that little girl brought home for me the truth that matter does not actually see. Soul, God, alone sees. Soul can never be poked, scraped, or in any way touched by matter. And if Soul was untouched, then so was I. As this understanding sank in, I felt completely at peace, even though my eye looked and felt no better.
My husband and I went forward with our plans to visit some friends that evening, stay overnight at their house, and drive a few more hours the next morning to visit my son. Though I was probably quite a sight, because I still needed to keep a hat over one eye and keep that eye closed, I didn’t have any concern that others seeing me not at my best could somehow delay or interfere with the healing that I knew was taking place. I recall making a passing reference to having a challenge opening my eye, and that was all that was said.
I enjoyed both visits, and felt a remarkable freedom and ease about being around others, trusting that divine Love was caring for me and supporting me “on every side” (Psalms 71:21 ).
At one point during the long ride home the next day, it occurred to me that I was well, and I opened my eye again. Things were definitely better, and within the next few days, my eye was completely normal. That was about a year ago, and today I couldn’t even tell you which eye was poked!
I’m really grateful for all the tools we have to study and practice Christian Science. From the Christian Science periodicals and writings of Mary Baker Eddy, to our church services and Primary class instruction in Christian Science, we have such a balanced and complete system in place, which enables us to grow spiritually and help others.
Linda Kohler
Brattleboro, Vermont, US
