Logic and love of Christian healing
One day several years ago, I began to feel a persistent pain in my chest. Though I was concerned, I hoped that it would just dissolve quickly so I could go about my business as usual. But it didn’t. I began feeling weak and not able to move with normal freedom. When I went to sleep at night, I found I had to sleep in a certain position on my back.
It was only through prayer that I was able to resist the pull of fear. I regularly declared to myself, silently, both during the day and before I went to sleep, that I was spiritual: I was the expression of God, Spirit. And that meant nothing unlike Spirit could be a part of my being. One statement from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy came to me as a corollary to this foundational truth: “A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive” (p. 463 ).
I also regularly read the first paragraph of the answer to the question “What is man?” from “Recapitulation,” the chapter in Science and Health used for teaching Christian Science in Primary class instruction. It includes the statement: “The Scriptures inform us that man is made in the image and likeness of God. Matter is not that likeness. The likeness of Spirit cannot be so unlike Spirit” (p. 475 ).
But the pain was so persistent and so alarming that there seemed to be this other voice taunting me: “Are you really spiritual? You couldn’t be or you wouldn’t be feeling this pain.” By turning wholeheartedly to God, I found the strength to reject that lie. I felt a greater degree of conviction about my true spiritual identity, and that there was nothing otherworldly about that. It was and is the here and now of who I am.
Over the next several days, I reasoned spiritually about my experience, and intuition helped reassure me that it was the “things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5 ) that defined who I was and what I valued. Something from Science and Health helped me to this point of conviction: “You have no law of His to support the necessity either of sin or sickness, but you have divine authority for denying that necessity and healing the sick” (p. 390 ). I knew I would never accept that the belief of life in matter could enforce a necessity to sin, so why would I accept the necessity to be sick from the same false premise? No, I was spiritual. And even though the pain was not receding, I felt more and more assured of this basic truth.
I also recalled many experiences of Christian Science healing that I’d had or that I had seen among my family and fellow church members. All these experiences pointed to the truth of spiritual reality. With all this prayerful reflection, I felt I was building my understanding of Christian Science healing on a stronger foundation. The naturalness of spiritual healing was becoming clearer to me.
But after a few days of this spiritual reasoning and reflection, I actually began to feel worse. One bitterly cold night, I was due to go with my sister to dinner at my parents’ place, where we’d be visiting a family member with whom we were reuniting after many years of little contact. I was so grateful for this opportunity, and I felt it was right for me to be there. But during the drive with my sister, the symptoms became more alarming than ever. I felt overcome with fear and told my sister I needed her to pray for me. Almost immediately, I felt strengthened by the quiet strength of her prayers. I don’t recall that she said anything. But I felt God’s love refreshing me and reassuring me that He was with me, taking care of me.
When we arrived at my parents’ place, I felt such gratitude for the reunion with this family member and for the unselfish prayers of my dear sister. Not long after we arrived, my sister wrote a little note and gave it to me: “You are the King’s son—all glorious within.” I smiled and kept that truth, a paraphrase of Psalms 45:13 , close at hand for the rest of the night.
Over the next few days, the pain gradually faded away. There was no more pain or weakness. I had normal freedom of movement. And I could go to sleep at night without being concerned about my sleeping position. A verse from that week’s Christian Science Bible Lesson, on the subject of Spirit, was a beacon for me during this healing: “Realize the presence of health and the fact of harmonious being, until the body corresponds with the normal conditions of health and harmony” (p. 412 ).
It has been over four years since this healing took place, and it has been permanent. I gained a new view of the logic and the love of Christian healing, and that made all the difference.
Stephen Lapointe
Cambridge, Massachusetts, US
