For months I suffered from insomnia. It started with my sleeping less than usual, a problem I thought would go away. But it gradually became more severe until I was getting almost no sleep at all. I became worried as the days and weeks went on. I needed to be able to sleep, especially during the day, because I was working the night shift five days a week. I also had children who depended on me.

I called a Christian Science practitioner for help praying about this, and she shared Christ Jesus’ statement, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). I knew that this meant free from everything that burdens us. 

As I prayed for myself with ideas the practitioner shared from the Bible and from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, I gained a greater understanding of my relationship to God as His creation. I gave much attention to the answer to the question, “What is man?” in Science and Health, which includes these spiritual facts: “Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique. He is the compound idea of God, including all right ideas; the generic term for all that reflects God’s image and likeness; . . .” (p. 475). This spiritual description of man was my main focus. I stayed in touch with the practitioner, and my ability to sleep improved as she prayed with me. 

One afternoon, I went to pick up my son from school. As I was waiting in my car and reading a book, I started feeling nauseated and became ill. I felt this was somehow connected to the insomnia. When I got out of the car, another parent saw me and helped me to the sidewalk so I could sit down. He called the school principal, since I was on school property, and the principal called the paramedics, as the law required. After checking me, the paramedics wanted to take me to the emergency room at a hospital to see a doctor. I appreciated their concern but wanted to rely on Christian Science for healing, so I signed a waiver saying that I was declining medical care. 

All this time I was praying quietly and firmly with Psalm 91, which lessened the fear. These verses were especially comforting: “Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways” (verses 9–11). There’s also a passage in the book of Joshua where God assures the Hebrew leader, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage” (1:5, 6). I was encouraged by this promise that God was with me, too, and would not fail me.

After the paramedics left, I called two of my coworkers, who came to the school, picked up my son and me, and drove us home. I continued studying and praying. This statement from Science and Health helped me understand the need to continually spiritualize thought and what that means: “It is the spiritualization of thought and Christianization of daily life, in contrast with the results of the ghastly farce of material existence; it is chastity and purity, in contrast with the downward tendencies and earthward gravitation of sensualism and impurity, which really attest the divine origin and operation of Christian Science” (p. 272). 

Within three days I was completely healed of the nausea and insomnia. This occurred about five years ago, and I’ve been able to sleep normally ever since.

I am so thankful to the biblical prophets who received and obeyed God’s messages; to Christ Jesus, our Master; and to Jesus’ disciple Mrs. Eddy for giving us Science and Health and her other writings.

Alvaro Pedro Manzenza
Richardson, Texas, US