Understanding Christian Science step by step

During my first year of college, I took a required course in humanities. In a lecture on Plato, the professor pointed to two chairs in front of the classroom. One chair was in good condition, and the other had a broken leg.

The professor pointed to the one with a broken leg and said that this is not what we envision when we think about a chair. Instead, we picture a whole chair standing on four legs. He then explained that, according to Plato, the reality of this chair is the idea of it and not a physical form. 

This lesson reminded me of something I had heard several months prior to this class. I had started dating a young man whose parents were Christian Scientists. I had thought that their religious beliefs were strange. But this class lecture reminded me of something they had said about God’s creation being spiritual and not material and about being one with God’s law of harmony and perfection. When I thought about God’s law, I thought about it as being like the law of gravity, which we cannot see, although we feel its effects.

A few months later, I was visiting my boyfriend’s home and talking to his teenage sister, who attended church with her parents. She was telling me about Christian Science and its main ideas. Although some of these concepts were still difficult for me to reconcile with everyday living, some were starting to make sense to me.

Shortly after, I noticed that several warts I’d had on my wrist and the palm of my hand were completely gone! I’d had these ugly warts for close to a year and had used several topical medications to try to get rid of them. 

This experience stayed with me, but it was over ten years before I started studying and practicing Christian Science. Although I was tentative at first in applying what I was learning, I felt the seeds of truth budding in my consciousness. And when I thought about the ever-presence and goodness of God, I started to have healings.

The biggest challenge came when I was a single mother with limited funds and needed a job. At this time, I started attending my local branch Church of Christ, Scientist, and engaging in helpful conversations with a Christian Science practitioner. 

One statement from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that the practitioner pointed out was, “Step by step will those who trust Him find that ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble’ ” (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 444). That’s what I was learning to do—trust God step by step.

Although I had a master’s degree, I didn’t have any work experience, so I enrolled in a local college to update my knowledge in a particular area. After finishing a semester, I got a job with a prestigious corporation. The entire experience was a demonstration of my reliance on God, based on what I was learning from the Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s writings.

In fact, just before I was offered the job, I had been praying with this passage from the Bible: “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). This helped me to see that I could change my thinking from concerns about a bleak future to confidence in God’s presence, power, and goodness.

I am so grateful to have been studying and relying on Christian Science for over forty years. The list of healings I’ve experienced is exceedingly long, so I will share just a couple of them.

One day I noticed that I could not see clearly with one of my eyes. I was in touch with a Christian Science practitioner for metaphysical treatment, but I became very frightened, since I needed to drive to work and for my family. 

I went to an eye doctor, who said I must get a brain scan and recommended a specialist. When I told the practitioner about the doctor’s recommendation, he didn’t try to discourage me from turning to medical treatment. But he did ask where I thought this would end and how many pictures and scans I would have to get. 

His comment made me laugh, and I saw the futility of turning to the uncertain instead of relying on God’s certain and perfect solution right in front of me. I turned wholeheartedly to God for healing. 

After about two weeks of earnest prayer, I woke up one morning, and the stream of sunlight shining in the room appeared brighter than it had in a while. I knew then that I was healed, and my vision has remained clear. I learned that spiritual healing isn’t about fixing matter but about seeing all as the perfect and whole expression of God, spiritual good.

A few years later, I discovered a lump in my breast. I tried to pray, but I was afraid. A close friend noticed a change in my disposition and asked me what was wrong. I confided in her about my situation. My friend’s husband was an oncologist, and he made an appointment for me to have an exam. I continued to pray, and although I decided to go ahead with the exam, by the time that day came, I wasn’t fearful. After the exam, I was not surprised when the doctor told me they could not find anything. The lump was gone and has never returned. Both of these healings happened over twenty years ago.

These experiences and many others have helped me to better understand the concept of being completely spiritual while seeming to live in a physical world. To me, it’s about watching our thinking moment by moment to see God’s reality of goodness and harmony and not be distracted by material sense. Science and Health states: “There is but one way to heaven, harmony, and Christ in divine Science shows us this way. It is to know no other reality—to have no other consciousness of life—than good, God and His reflection, and to rise superior to the so-called pain and pleasure of the senses” (p. 242).

Now I see the connection between studying and practicing Christian Science and experiencing harmony and healing in my life.