At a routine eye exam I was told that I had glaucoma, that it was incurable, and that I would have to deal with it with daily medication for the rest of my life.

That exam was followed by a visit to an eye clinic, where extensive tests were given to verify the diagnosis.

I told the doctor I was going to rely on prayer for healing, which I fully expected. However, her prognosis was not in any way encouraging. In fact, what she said was tough to hear. 

But it only made me stand firmly with the truth I have known and practiced all of my life. Rather than take the recommended medication, I prayed daily for about two or three years for real sight. I endeavored to see all things more clearly; in other words, to see everyone, stranger or not, as God’s own image and likeness. It’s one thing to strive to see oneself that way, but it’s invalid if you’re not seeing others in the same way. 

I heard a story years ago about a Christian Scientist who was involved in a head-on collision in a one-lane, one-way tunnel. A car approached him in that one lane going the wrong direction, and there was no escape. They had a very bad accident, and the man saw his child on the passenger seat in a very grave condition and the drunk who had hit them staggering toward them. He so hated that man that he got out of the car to attack him. But when he looked back at his child, the thought came, “I can’t be seeing two mortals here”—a drunk man and a dying child. 

He realized what Christian Science teaches: that God created man spiritually, in His image, as it says in the account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis. This creation is immortal—perfect, whole, sinless, never a victim or victimizer. Life is not a mixture of the material and spiritual, and we must either accept this spiritual account as true or the other material account of creation in the second chapter of Genesis as true. But the only true account is the spiritual. 

The man got back to his car to pray for his child and to pray to see all involved as created spiritually. These prayers had an effect, as his child was saved. 

That story has resonated with me through many years, and it helped me in this experience, because we are constantly presented with the false image, or mortal man, on the street, on the TV news, in the grocery store, at the dinner table, in church, and even in the mirror. It’s a constant choice we have to make as to how we see ourselves and others. 

That was one thing I worked on, to always see the true, spiritual man. Each day new inspiration came, which supported me in this endeavor as I read our weekly Bible Lessons, found in the Christian Science Quarterly, and our periodicals.

I will say, during those many months not a day went by without my giving myself a Christian Science treatment. I didn’t have one glowing spiritual truth that I worked with during this period, and there was no proverbial silver bullet. It was consistency; it was expectancy; it was a refusal to give in to a material diagnosis of deterioration and incurability that resulted in a complete healing of the physical condition. There came a time when I simply sensed healing had taken place. I no longer feared the condition; I no longer believed it was a part of me; it had seemed a false report from the get-go.

Yet there was no way to furnish verification that the healing was complete without an examination, since I had experienced no loss of vision during this time. So I returned to the same eye clinic and asked for another eye exam. It was routine, and there was no mention of glaucoma. 

I asked the doctor if he had found any trace of it. He said there was no evidence of the condition whatsoever, although he had seen my charts and knew of the prior medical predictions.

I then asked the doctor if he would sign a statement, which I had prepared for signature, confirming there was no evidence of glaucoma. He signed it and asked me why I had asked for it. I said it was because I was a Christian Scientist and wanted proof of the healing to share with others. He was fine with that. He is a leading eye specialist in our community.

That visit was several years ago, and my vision is excellent. I do not wear glasses. 

Am I grateful for Christian Science? You bet!

Lona Ingwerson
Laguna Beach, California, US