When my children were little and I was the soloist at our church, I suddenly began losing weight and felt uncomfortable all over, particularly in my legs. Within a few days, I was unable to walk. A family member who was a Christian Science practitioner had been praying for me, but when the problem didn’t yield, it became clear to her that she needed to help me care for the children so I would be free to pray. I was grateful for her wisdom and called my Christian Science teacher to take over the case.

During our first conversation, it was apparent that I was full of self-condemnation about what I felt I should have done and how much better I felt I should be. I was surprised to discover as a result of this discussion that self-condemnation is self-centered, not God-centered!

This woke me up, and I realized that I had not been listening to God’s voice but to false mental suggestions that I was something other than the perfect child of God. I saw that as God’s spiritual image and likeness I was actually the expression of beautiful qualities and that nothing could stop that expression. Had I continued to believe all the lies I was telling myself, I would not have been open to healing.