I was raised in Christian Science, and except for a brief phase in college, I have followed its teachings all my life. This has been a blessing to me in numerous ways. But a particular healing from the past decade has propelled me into an even more defined path of spiritual seeking and growth.

For some time following what felt like a bad cold or flu, I continued coughing and had trouble getting my breath. Any kind of physical effort would leave me panting. 

During this time, my daughter had her first child and asked if I could come stay with her to help with my new granddaughter. I left home immediately to be with her, driving for two days from my home to hers. 

I spent much of the drive listening to an audio recording of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. I continued to pray as I had been doing over the past year; I had also asked a Christian Science practitioner for metaphysical treatment through prayer, and we kept in touch as I traveled. 

I had been praying to eliminate fear about symptoms that were similar to some my mother had experienced before she passed on. I realized I had a self-imposed, and false, belief that I must in some way be responsible for this problem—that there was something in my thinking that kept this difficulty hanging on. 

As I was driving the second day and listening to the recording of Science and Health, one particular passage brought out the idea so clearly that the only mind is divine Mind, God: “Every concept which seems to begin with the brain begins falsely. Divine Mind is the only cause or Principle of existence. Cause does not exist in matter, in mortal mind, or in physical forms” (p. 262). I saw that there was nothing that needed to be eliminated from this perfect Mind. I wasn’t trying to change or heal a mortal mind or a physical condition, neither of which had any intelligence of its own. I could simply dismiss the belief that I was responsible for disease. 

I was startled by this revelation. And the problem left immediately—no more coughing, no more shortness of breath. I was free, and I glorified God, Mind. 

I spent a delightful couple of weeks with my daughter, granddaughter, and son-in-law. On the return trip, I reveled in my ability to hike freely at a small park where I stayed one night. I felt like the lame man who entered the temple “walking, and leaping, and praising God” (Acts 3:8) after being healed by Christ Jesus’ disciple Peter.

The next fall, though, the coughing and breathing problem returned. My husband and my daughter were very concerned, fearing that it was the same thing that had plagued my mother. I contacted a practitioner for prayerful help and spent many hours in prayer and study. This time the healing occurred more slowly, but the turning point came when I realized that I was afraid that the healing would again be temporary and that the problem would return. I mentally countered that fearful belief with the realization that God expresses only perfect health and wholeness, and with the spiritual fact of my being that I reflect the divine perfection. Even if the material condition seemed to repeat itself, the truth of my perfect being could never change. The coughing and breathing discomfort faded once again.

The problem returned a third time, but I was able to face it through prayer with a much calmer and more trusting approach. I held to the firm understanding that no matter how often a material belief might appear, I could remain confident that God’s presence and care were constant and all-powerful—and that triumph was inevitable. 

During this time, I shared my experience at a Wednesday testimony meeting. I prefaced it with the statement that although the problem had not yet been fully healed, I knew it would be. And so it was. The difficulties had no further hold on me; they slipped silently into their natural nothingness and have not returned. That was several years ago.

Thinking back over this experience, I realize that it was a period of spiritual progress that left me with many clear ideas of how my life—as the reflection of divine Life, God—is perfectly maintained by God. These ideas have helped me overcome many other challenges since then, and I continue to delve deeper into understanding more of my true, spiritual selfhood. 

As Mrs. Eddy states in Science and Health: “Every day makes its demands upon us for higher proofs rather than professions of Christian power. These proofs consist solely in the destruction of sin, sickness, and death by the power of Spirit, as Jesus destroyed them. This is an element of progress, and progress is the law of God, whose law demands of us only what we can certainly fulfil” (p. 233).