Dad's drinking problem solved
From the time I was very young, my dad had a drinking problem. I was always afraid of him, which made me angry. I did not know how to overcome this constant fear of him.
I went to the Christian Science Sunday School growing up, and at age ten I attended a class that would change my life. One day our Sunday School teacher asked me to memorize the 91st Psalm. Verse 11 of it reads, “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” I knew that God’s angels would protect me and keep me safe.
My teacher said: “We can always pray about anything. Just talk to God, because he always hears our prayers and will answer them.” I knew now that I could pray every day. I asked God to help my dad stop drinking so I wouldn’t be afraid anymore and my family would be happy. I never stopped praying, even though there seemed to be no progress. I remembered what my Sunday School teacher said, “Man is God’s image and likeness, and all that God created is good.” I prayed to see my dad as God’s image and likeness. I affirmed that because God is good, my dad must be good, too.
In my senior year of high school, things became even more difficult. I was afraid our family would break up. I thought maybe I could just go away and find a new life somehow. But I knew I could trust God, and one day while I was praying, an idea came to me so clearly: “Why don’t you ask Dad to stop drinking?” I thought that seemed useless, but I knew I must listen to what God was telling me.
The next day I asked him, “Dad, will you please stop drinking?” I told him I loved him and that I wanted something better for him and for our family. I asked him to just think about what I’d said, and then I went to my room and prayed. I knew I must see my dad as God’s child. I asked God to help him see the light, to do the right thing. I knew later that the most important thing I said to my dad was “I love you.” With great joy I can say from that day on, my father never drank again.
I am so glad I didn’t walk away from this dear man. I realized he expressed the Godlike qualities of love, courage, and commitment. He did love his family! He had the courage to stop drinking, and the commitment to stick with his decision no matter how hard it might have been.
One day I realized I was no longer afraid or angry. What joy and freedom! I found that because I loved my dad, I could forgive him, and because I could forgive him, I could let go of the past. Our family was happy now and doing things together, and loving one another. My brother asked me why Dad wasn’t drinking. I said, “Because I have always prayed that God would heal him, and God has, and we can love Dad for what he is doing.”
One day I invited Dad to come to church with us if he ever wanted to. It was always thought that he would never stop drinking or go to church. One Sunday morning I found him standing in the hallway all dressed up in a new suit. I said, “Dad, where are you going?” He answered, “Church!” And away we went. To have my dad in church with me had seemed impossible, but as Jesus said, “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26 ). I was so thankful. My dad continued attending church and often read the Sentinel.
Many years later I went to see my dad when he was in a care facility, and as I walked in the door, I heard him calling me urgently from down the hall. I hurried to his room and found him sitting up in bed, smiling with joy. He said, “Laura, I want you to hold my hands.” We had never held hands before. I couldn’t think of what to say to him, but finally I realized I didn’t need to say anything at all. All I could see was light in that room, and all I could feel was love—the divine Love that had always been.
I knew that prayer, as taught and demonstrated in Christian Science, had changed his life, and mine. I am so grateful for Christian Science, and for our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy.
Laura Westoby
Cerritos, California, US
