I was raised in Christian Science and experienced many healings growing up. Once I had a family of my own, my reliance on Christian Science continued, and we too witnessed many healings. However, there was a time when I faced a challenge that required me to rely on and grow in my understanding of God more than I ever had in the past. Though at times the situation seemed desperate, God’s healing power was felt and ultimately fully demonstrated.

One night I experienced an attack that involved extreme dizziness and vomiting. My loving husband, though not a church member, believes in God and has seen the healing power of prayer, and he was right there to comfort me. However, we were both in shock, and later that night, my husband took me to the hospital. We were told I had Meniere’s disease. 

I was committed to working the situation out in Christian Science, and at different times received spiritual treatment from a Christian Science practitioner. There were long periods of peace and freedom, but the attacks continued. Sometimes an attack would stop while I was talking to a practitioner, and with no aftereffects. But as the years went by, the sudden attacks increased in number until they became an everyday event. I found myself in the emergency room several more times, and I started to feel that I just wanted to die.

The specialists that were recommended to us all said there was no known cure. I was given an assortment of drugs to alleviate the symptoms. I tried these drugs a few times, but they were either thrown up immediately, or, if they stayed down, did no good. 

But then things started to shift when I began receiving treatment from a Christian Science practitioner I hadn’t worked with before. At first it was a phone call between her and my husband. Then, there was a time when the phone was put to my ear and I listened to the practitioner’s loving and strengthening words. Within a month, I knew progress was taking place.

From this point on, my desire to die was gone. My husband, being in the trenches and feeling helpless, was also greatly affected by the practitioner’s encouragement and support. The divine Love we were feeling buoyed both of us. Even though I was unable to communicate well and spent much of my time in the dark, I sensed change. Through the action of the Christ, the stagnant situation broke. I was never again carried through the doors of the hospital, and I was ready once again to fight for the right to experience my pure perfection in God’s image.

My husband had for a long time desperately searched the internet for answers and any treatment available. But now he was led to change the direction of his search. He came across a device I could use as a temporary aid. It involved no drugs and promised no cure. It helped me to gain physical stability so that I could read once again. I never believed this was an answer, but just an aid, because I knew that real, permanent healing comes from God and the spiritualization of thought. 

During this time, I read the Bible all the way through. I loved seeing the spiritual progression of thought through the ages, and the continuity of God’s ever-present love for His children. I also read Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy cover to cover. I loved to silently recite and ponder “the scientific statement of being” (see Science and Health, p. 468), the Lord’s Prayer, the Beatitudes, and many precious hymns—one of which was “Satisfied” by Mrs. Eddy (originally written as a poem). The first verse reads,

I became so much more grateful for all the evidence of good in my life, including a loving, devoted husband; two happy, healthy grown children; and now grandchildren. I was starting to realize more fully that there is only one law, divine law, and one truth, God’s truth. God’s truth is substance and the only foundation I could stand on. 

One day, about two years later, I discovered I did not need to rely on the device for stability. Also, my ears had drained. It was so natural and uneventful. I found myself completely healed and with my hearing intact. And I knew it wasn’t about becoming perfect again, but about realizing I always had been perfect as God’s idea or expression.

I have been free of this condition for many years now. This testimony is a declaration of the impotence of error and an absolute acknowledgment of the present perfection we can all reflect and bear witness to here and now. I feel so deeply now that God truly is All-in-all, and my husband says I have become more peaceful. With a humble heart, I am grateful for God’s love.

Celia Heathcote
Medina, Washington, US