God had blessed our family with a wonderful daughter, but despite our efforts to have another child, after five years we had not been successful. We consulted a doctor specializing in this area and were devastated when he informed us that we would not be able to have more children. Still, we were grateful and happy to have our daughter. 

Four months after that meeting, we were overjoyed to find that my wife was pregnant and that we were to be blessed with another child. To me, this was evidence, despite the negative medical prognosis, that God is the only cause and creator, the only real Father and Mother of us all. Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “God is the parent Mind, and man is God’s spiritual offspring” (p. 336).

Within hours after our son, Scott, was born, however, a doctor informed me that the child might have significant heart problems that would require multiple operations to correct. This was not the news I was expecting. Fear quickly set in, and I slept very little that night. 

When I awoke in the morning, I knew I needed to reach out to God to allay my fear. Three ideas came to me: 1) Give up human opinions for God’s ideas; 2) God is the Parent of all, including our son, and He causes every one of His children to be perfect; and 3) True theology is perfect God, perfect man, and perfect universe. These spiritual truths were just what I needed.

Later that day, additional tests were performed at the hospital, and the doctor informed us that our son’s heart had problems with its development, and that after taking him home, we would need to bring him back later for more testing. 

When I got home from the hospital, I reached out for support from a Christian Science practitioner. My thought changed immediately after she emphatically shared with me, “Scott is God’s big boy, and God is his real Father and Mother. He has to have a perfect heart.” She reminded me that Scott’s true nature is spiritual, that he is created in God’s own image and likeness, and that all that God creates is wholly good (see Genesis 1:26, 27, 31). She helped me see that Scott must reflect God’s perfection, meaning that Scott was perfect in every way right then.

This loving practitioner emphasized the need to mentally reject any thought or diagnosis that was unlike God, good, and replace it with the truth about man as just described. She referenced one of my favorite passages by Mrs. Eddy: “Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously” (Science and Health, p. 392).

In my own prayers, I affirmed that Scott’s birthright was “dominion, not subjection,” as we learn in Science and Health (p. 518). I rejoiced in the fact that God, divine Mind, governs the universe, including our son’s heart, in perfect harmony. 

After several months of returning with our son to the doctor for more testing, we were informed that Scott’s heart looked good and was healing perfectly. One day as I accompanied my wife to yet another appointment, on the way to the hospital it became clear to me that the healing was complete and that there was no need for any more tests. At this appointment, the doctor agreed that our son’s heart was perfect and that there was indeed no need for further testing. Scott has grown into a wonderful young man with no heart issues.

I am so grateful for Mrs. Eddy, who discovered Christian Science and defined it as “the law of God, the law of good, interpreting and demonstrating the divine Principle and rule of universal harmony” (Rudimental Divine Science, p. 1).

Bryan Holland
Cincinnati, Ohio, US