Turning Points in Spiritual Growth May 2, 2016 Issue

An attitude adjustment

Laurel McNabb Sheehan

Several years ago, I was struggling with intermittent allergic reactions around my eyes. They appeared at random times, and I soon realized I was making a mental list of things that could have “caused” the reaction, such as what I’d eaten, or the new eye makeup I’d purchased. I casually said to myself that I can respond only to God, good, and nothing else, because God is the only cause, but my affirmations often didn’t go very deep.

This challenge was a turning point for me because it forced me to examine how I’d been viewing prayer and healing in Christian Science. For instance, I sometimes called Christian Science practitioners for help and received excellent metaphysical ideas, and the itchiness and puffiness always went away before the end of the day. But then I also started to become very aware of ads for allergy relief and became cautious about going outside during certain months. An unnatural lack of trust and doubt in spiritual healing developed.

During this time when the allergic reactions were taking place, I wondered if I could ever be instantaneously healed of this in Christian Science. As a lifelong student of Christian Science, I’d experienced many quick healings as a child and young adult. But my healings started to take much longer, and I felt discouraged.

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