Rash quickly vanishes
Earlier this year, I was listening to an online Wednesday testimony meeting from The Mother Church when I heard a testimony in which the writer mentioned a skin condition that had spread over his or her body. As I heard this generic description, my thought wandered briefly from the testimony to wonder what the “condition” might have been. I immediately saw the error of this line of thought. It was evident to me that mortal mind, or “the carnal mind,” as Paul refers to it in Romans 8:7 , was attempting to make a reality out of the observed condition, giving it a name and a nature. I refused to follow this line of thought any further, and I turned my attention back to the testimony, which included the complete healing of the condition.
The following weekend, I was quilting with friends, and, as I moved some fabric to my sewing machine, I noticed a large rash on the back of my right forearm. After a moment of alarm, I immediately thought of the experience of the previous Wednesday and knew better than to follow the line of thought Mary Baker Eddy characterizes when she refers on page 176 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures to “inquisitive modern Eves”!
I immediately declared mentally that this rash had no basis in Truth and could not possibly be any part of me as the image and likeness of God, which the first chapter of Genesis declares man to be. My friends and I were focusing on our own individual projects, and no one commented on or appeared to notice the rash.
I turned my focus back to my sewing, deliberately choosing not to look at my arm for any indication of either health or disease. It was interesting to me to note that on Wednesday, when my thought had wandered to consider what the condition mentioned in the testimony might have been, I had not mentally associated any discomfort with that condition, and I experienced no discomfort of any kind from the rash that had appeared on my arm.
A little later, I thought about what Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health about an experience Moses had: “It was scientifically demonstrated that leprosy was a creation of mortal mind and not a condition of matter, when Moses first put his hand into his bosom and drew it forth white as snow with the dread disease, and presently restored his hand to its natural condition by the same simple process. God had lessened Moses’ fear by this proof in divine Science …” (p. 321 ).
It was so clear to me that this rash was a “creation of mortal mind and not a condition of matter” that when I first noticed it, I had to make a deliberate attempt not to smile or chuckle out loud at the absurdity of it, as I did not want to have to explain to my friends at that moment what I was finding so amusing.
The next day, I was not at all surprised when I noticed that the rash had completely disappeared. It has not returned.
I am so grateful for our dear Father’s all-encompassing love for His perfect creation; for Christ Jesus’ example; and for Mary Baker Eddy’s sacred discovery, her selfless devotion in writing down this discovery and making it available for all to practice, and for her establishing her Church in the way God directed.
Connie Maria Abel
Powell, Ohio, US
