Testimony of Healing May 5, 2014 ISSUE

Prayer challenges cruise ship contagion

Cynthia Lindley

Recently, my husband and I went on a cruise with some friends. We were going to start out by sailing from Florida to South America. As we all gathered in a large room to board the ship, the time came and went when we were supposed to board. We sat there about four hours past the normal boarding time with no explanation. As we finally boarded, we were handed pieces of paper explaining that on the previous cruise there had been an outbreak of a contagious gastrointestinal illness that had necessitated sterilizing the entire ship before our cruise. We were told that if anyone did not wish to take the cruise because of this, they would receive a full refund.

That evening on the ship, we received a newsletter stating that if anyone began to feel ill with certain symptoms and they lasted more than two days or were extreme, they should report to the ship’s doctor for an examination. The ocean that first night was quite rough, and I started to feel seasick. I didn’t sleep that night, and by the next morning, I was feeling quite ill. Then symptoms began to appear that had nothing to do with the roughness of the ocean. In fact, I was exhibiting all the symptoms listed in the ship’s newsletter. I wanted to be obedient to the cruise company’s request, but I did not want to visit the doctor on board. Instead, I wanted to work this out through prayer in Christian Science. Since I also wanted to be respectful and considerate of the other passengers, I stayed in my cabin and did not go out for any meals. I also put the “Do not disturb” sign on our cabin door so that the cabin steward did not have to come in to do regular cleaning.

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