Quick recovery from burns
A few years back, I sustained serious burns on my hands, arms, and face. At first there was no pain, and I was able to assure those who witnessed the accident that all was well. A friend offered to drive me to a Christian Science nursing facility. Once I got in the car, I began to experience a great deal of pain, and I prayed as best I could to silence the aggressive suggestions. I asked my friend to call a Christian Science practitioner and request prayerful treatment for me.
When we arrived, the Christian Science nurses gently cleaned the wounds and shared metaphysical truths with me, but the pain intensified. I asked if there was anything they could do physically to lessen the pain temporarily so that I could think and pray. But when they asked me if I was requesting to go to an emergency room, I thought, “Absolutely not!”
That conviction made me realize that the pain was not more powerful than the effectiveness of my prayers. I started giving myself a treatment out loud. I was declaring what was true about God and about man as God’s creation, and denying what was untrue. I asked the Christian Science nurses if they minded that I was praying aloud. Of course they did not.
I am so grateful for Christian Science treatment. I am accustomed to starting each morning with a treatment for myself, my family, and the world. With all this practice, giving myself a treatment was so familiar that I was able to do it despite the pain, and I could stay focused on the powerful truths that I was voicing. All pain ended within half an hour. I was then able to wash up and sleep comfortably through the night. Though there was occasional slight discomfort for a few days, I never again experienced extreme pain.
I am very grateful for the Christian Science treatment given by the practitioner. Our work together was immediately clear and effective, and I felt certain that the practitioner’s treatment allowed me to stay focused on my own prayerful treatment.
Within two days I felt such progress and freedom that I became eager to get back to work and regular activity. However, the Christian Science nurses encouraged me to go home instead. I am grateful they didn’t tell me I wasn’t quite ready to meet the public. Having reached a spiritual mountaintop, I didn’t need to ponder what my face looked like. The practitioner and I held to the idea of rapid reconstruction with an expectation of complete healing. By the third day, I went home from the Christian Science nursing facility, and a family member came to help with necessary chores outside the home.
Five days after the accident, I decided to look in the mirror for the first time. I was momentarily fearful of what I saw. I could not see how I would be able to resume my day-to-day duties in a timely manner. I felt fine, but my face still looked unsightly. The family member staying with me then reminded me how consistently and uninterruptedly the real, spiritual man had been becoming more apparent.
I then remembered something from a CD shared with me by a Christian Science nurse. Mary Baker Eddy had once been asked for a brief explanation of Christian Science treatment. She described it as an “absolute acknowledgment of the ever-presence of Infinite Perfection” (letter from Elise Morton, dated April 4, 1946, to the Clerk of The Mother Church). I trusted the effectiveness of the treatment I was being given, and my confidence returned.
All week I had clung to the fact that as God’s man, I owned no human history. The March 6, 1948, Sentinel article titled “Truth Removes All Scars” by L. Ivimy Gwalter brought out the fact that if an error never really occurred, it could not leave an aftereffect. Suddenly, I knew that I had never really had an accident. The inspiration was so clear and filled my thought so completely that all mental pictures of the accident were erased. That evening when I was showering, all the remaining debris from the burns simply washed away. My face, hands, and wrist were without spot! I went back to work Sunday evening, one week after the incident. One small area on my wrist was bandaged for only a few more days.
I am very grateful that the Christian Science practitioner, friends, family, and I demanded proof that realizing the ever-present perfection of God and His creation results in healing. This healing has been so complete that I have no scars or disfigurement, and even my memory has been cleaned of what the burns looked like. As the practitioner quoted from Isaiah, “When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee” (43:2 ).
Jared Eggers
Town and Country, Missouri, US
