There was a time several years ago when I was seriously sick because of a bowel problem. In addition to my own prayerful efforts, I sought aid from church friends whose metaphysical support in Christian Science helped to anchor my hope in God as the only source of life. There were times when my health improved, but then I would suffer a relapse.

At one point, I met with a medical doctor, who said I needed an operation, and I went home feeling disappointed about life. However, I did not give up my trust in God as All-in-all and as an ever-present help in trouble. I continued to affirm that man is made in God’s likeness, and I thought about this statement from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: “It is easier to desire Truth than to rid one’s self of error” (p. 322). I started to think beyond wanting the sickness removed, and took up the Bible. When I opened it, the first words I saw were “Trust not in oppression” (Psalms 62:10). I knew immediately that those words were for my guidance, and I decided not to go forward with the recommended operation.

Humility and obedience to God’s good will began to set me free to master fear and became the foundation of my hope for recovery. Trusting in God, divine Mind, I was led to phone a friend who is a member of the Christian Science Society in Amandugba, Nigeria, to pray for me. She quoted words from the Christian Science Hymnal that were brief but encouraging: “O Truth which sage and prophet saw / Long sought without, but found within” (John Greenleaf Whittier, Hymn 229).