Testimony of Healing December 28, 2015 Issue

Freedom from acute abdominal pain

Andrea Brunais

Since beginning the study of Christian Science almost ten years ago, I have had healings of various physical ailments through prayer. In my early days of study, after receiving treatment from a Christian Science practitioner, I was able to quit a prescription drug that I had taken for years—one doctors said I would require for life.

However, I sometimes found that physical symptoms of any kind of illness, even minor, would cloud my thinking. Doubts would set in. But I have learned that whenever I become fearful, it is helpful to begin my prayers by first acknowledging the allness of God. To acknowledge the allness of God is to get at the very heart of Christian Science treatment, which is based on the understanding that God is everywhere and fills all space—which leaves no room for anything but God and His perfect creation; no room for anything unlike God, good. We are actually God’s spiritual image and likeness, and that likeness cannot be held captive to pain or discord of any sort. Reflecting on this truth works to dissolve my fears and helps me better understand the nature of man as completely spiritual, and understand my own wholly spiritual identity.

In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and in her other writings, Mary Baker Eddy demonstrates her ability not only as a healer but also as a wordsmith of clarity and precision. Her writings are a rich source of inspiration as well as practical instruction. If I seem to be grappling with an issue of pain, I often recall the directive: “Banish the belief that you can possibly entertain a single intruding pain which cannot be ruled out by the might of Mind, and in this way you can prevent the development of pain in the body” (Science and Health, p. 391). The strength of the verb “banish” reminds me that I have God-given dominion over the belief of pain. Pain cannot hold me in its grip because pain has no reality or spiritual authority.