I would like to share several Christian Science healings our family has had of broken bones. The first was in May 1985, when my older son, Gus, was in fourth grade and was injured at a Boy Scout camp. I took him to a walk-in clinic to get X-rayed, and the X-ray showed that his collarbone was shattered. The doctors put a shoulder sling on to make him more comfortable and told me an orthopedic surgeon would have to set the bone with a pin. Based on the practical healing experiences we’ve had in our family, I was confident to turn to Christian Science for help, and so was Gus.

I stayed home from work for a week, and we worked with a Christian Science practitioner, who pointed out that we were not praying to heal a broken bone, but rather to know that in reality Gus was already God’s perfect, complete child. We affirmed that everything was in its right place under God’s government, and there could be no evidence otherwise. My son wore the shoulder sling for the week at home and a week back at school. Shortly after, he felt no further effects and was back playing baseball.

The following fall he fell in gym class, and another boy fell on top of him. Because he said his shoulder hurt, the school required a doctor’s note for him to return to school. I called the practitioner, and we prayed about it over the weekend. On Monday I took him for an X-ray at a different clinic. The doctor looked at the X-ray and said: “Whoever set his collarbone did a perfect job. He will never have trouble with it.” And he never has.

In April 1990 my younger son, Toby, who was in ninth grade, was injured when he fell at school. I took him to get an X-ray, which showed that he had broken his collarbone and that part of the bone was out of place in a way that could cause further injury. The doctors didn’t want to move it and advised me to get him to an orthopedic doctor immediately. I called a Christian Science practitioner to work with us. Then I called the orthopedist and got an appointment for three o’clock that afternoon. 

When I got off the phone, Toby called to me. He had been led to lie down on the floor to take the pressure off the shoulder, and when he did, the bone popped back into place. I found the sling his brother had in the back of a closet, and we slipped it on. While waiting at the doctor’s office, I prayed, knowing that Toby was a spiritual idea of divine Mind, complete and perfect. 

Mary Baker Eddy writes in “the scientific statement of being” in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual” (p. 468). 

The doctor ran his finger over the bone and asked when the break had happened. I told him it was just that morning. He looked at the X-ray, ran his finger over the bone again, and seemed puzzled. Finally he said: “It is healing just fine. Come back in two weeks.” 

Later that evening, I noticed Toby had taken off the shoulder sling. I was surprised and asked him if he didn’t need it. He said no; his shoulder felt fine. He wore the sling off and on for the next couple of days, and that was it. The collarbone was healed, we didn’t feel the need to return to the doctor, and Toby has never had a problem with it. 

In 2000 I was painting on a tall ladder and got my feet twisted. When I went to turn, I found myself stepping off the second step from the top of the ladder. I came down hard on my right foot. The foot was so painful that when I put any weight on it, I felt clammy and nearly fainted. I called a Christian Science practitioner to pray with me. 

The next morning I was still feeling faint whenever I tried to stand on my foot. I spent the morning praying, affirming that in reality I was spiritual and perfect. I worked with the answer to the question “What is man” on page 475 of Science and Health, which begins: “Man is not matter; he is not made up of brain, blood, bones, and other material elements.… Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique.” 

By midday I was able to put weight on my foot. The next day I was walking, but the foot was swollen. To allay the concerns of family members, I got the foot X-rayed. The doctor said three bones were fractured, but they were healing. He predicted that I would always have problems with that foot. He suggested I get a walking boot to make getting around easier, which I decided to do since I needed to be on my feet a lot. 

Two weeks after the accident, I was wearing tennis shoes. The following week, I wore my high heels to work and was able to stand on my feet all day. I have never had any further problem with that foot.

In 2006 I was outside painting some trim when a bee buzzed past my face. I was startled and jumped back. When I did, I tripped and fell backward, breaking my fall with my right hand. When I tried to move my wrist, I felt clammy and almost fainted from the pain. It seemed from my past experience that I might have broken my wrist. 

I contacted a Christian Science practitioner to pray with me. I knew this injury was only a false belief, having previously seen the unreality of broken bones in God’s harmonious kingdom. I was not impressed at all. I reread the Christian Science Bible Lesson for that week and prayed to know that I was spiritual and complete. That spiritual fact had never changed, despite the material evidence. 

Science and Health declares, “Every law of matter or the body, supposed to govern man, is rendered null and void by the law of Life, God” (pp. 380–381). I felt a sense of peace and went to bed, assured that all was already OK. The next day I remembered my wrist about midmorning, when I was filing something at work, and realized I was moving my wrist and hand freely. I have never had any further problem with that wrist.

I am so grateful for Christian Science. I cannot imagine life without it.

Phyllis Schulze Valentine
St. Louis, Missouri, US