I was searching for the truth

I became acquainted with Christian Science a little over a decade ago. Like many people, I was searching for the truth. I had taken courses and read books about different religions and philosophies, and I was practicing a philosophy that basically said I was God and was responsible for the good and bad in my life. If my thoughts were good, things would go well. If not, they would go badly. This was a heavy burden on my shoulders. 

I was facing tremendous challenges at the time: a job loss, great loneliness, and the care of a young daughter with a chronic respiratory disease. As a single mother, I felt overwhelmed. 

One day I couldn’t take it anymore, and in a moment of clarity I knew that I wasn’t God—I wasn’t the creator or governor of anything. I completely surrendered to God and fell to my knees, saying, “God, if You exist, please show me.” Then a name came to thought: Mary Baker Eddy. I could not recall having ever heard or read this name before, but I learned through an internet search that she was the Discoverer of Christian Science and that Christian Science teaches that there is one all-loving, all-powerful, incorporeal God, who governs man and the universe. 

This search led me to a lecture in Spanish called “The healing power of Truth” on YouTube. At the time, I didn’t know it was a Christian Science lecture, but I was open to it and listened. The lecture was truly an hour of healing. I was so grateful for the peace I felt afterward that I emailed the lecturer to thank him. He answered right away and told me that he would send me the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mrs. Eddy. 

When the book arrived, I began to eagerly read it. I remember feeling God’s love welcoming me as if with open arms, and reading this opening sentence in the Preface: “To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings” (p. vii). The book was truly a gift, because it spoke of our ability to rely on a support beyond ourselves—an infinite, divine support, or God—rather than on our own expertise or intelligence or on material reasoning. It invited me to see that I could depend completely on God’s support. This released me from a sense of burden and filled me with peace.

I couldn’t stop reading this book. I would drop my daughter off at school and then come home and continue reading. I discovered truths that not only were very practical but also helped me look at everything differently—that is, from a spiritual perspective. I had been accustomed to reading the Bible, but my relationship with the Bible was a bit distant because I didn’t understand much of the language. But when I started reading Science and Health, the message of the Bible became clearer. 

For instance, in Science and Health I came across the twenty-third Psalm—which had been important in many moments of my life—and saw that the author had substituted the word Love (a synonym for God in Christian Science) for each reference to God. When I read, “[Love] prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: [love] anointeth my head with oil; my cup runneth over” (p. 578), I understood that divine Love is the sustaining infinite and that my life was overflowing with good from God. 

As a result, I had a complete change of thought—from fear to faith that I could trust God to care for my daughter and me and that all was well. I was full of joy, as if expecting a great gift.

Shortly after, I got a job offer that I accepted. It was a beautiful job that blessed many children where I live in Mexico and filled me with inspiration. Moreover, it allowed me time to continue reading Science and Health and to participate in my daughter’s activities at school. That was a healing in itself. Science and Health says, “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need” (p. 494), and I was witnessing how this Love was meeting my family’s needs in a very practical and immediate way. 

My encounter with the truths in the Christian Science textbook and those in the Bible—especially those that Christ Jesus lived and shared with his disciples—and my understanding that these same truths are being practiced today and are available to everyone, filled me with hope. It was a beautiful time, during which I was able to see that Christian Science is a great gift for those who want it and need it.  

As I continued reading Science and Health, my daughter and I had several healings. One afternoon she had a high fever. However, I wasn’t afraid. The thought that came to me was, “But now you have this book.” I opened Science and Health, and as I began reading, it became clear to me that fear manifests itself as fever. I felt that if I was embracing the spiritual ideas in the book, and if, in turn, these ideas were embracing my daughter and me, then there was no room for fear.

I remember praying for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, and I felt Love’s companionship. Then my daughter shouted from her room, “Mom, I’m hungry—I want to eat.” The fever was gone. Following this, she was also healed in Christian Science of the chronic respiratory problem for which she had received medical treatment for many years. 

Something else very beautiful happened. I never again felt alone. When feeling the need for companionship, there was, and still is, always a thought or idea from God accompanying me, providing an answer and giving me light. Although there continue to be challenges, I feel divine Love’s support and companionship sustaining me, and all who trust in God. This fills me with gratitude.

While reading Science and Health, I also came across a statement that gave me a clear understanding of what it means to rest in God. Mrs. Eddy writes: “Man is not God, but like a ray of light which comes from the sun, man, the outcome of God, reflects God” (p. 250). This made it clear to me that creation does not depend on me but on God, the only creator, and that I had been divinely led to understand this beautiful truth. We are always in divine Love’s embrace, for, as the Bible says, “in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). We are, in fact, God’s manifestation. 

As a result of finding Christian Science, I formed friendships with others who were searching for the truth. A group of people interested in studying Christian Science began to emerge, at first informally. We met in each other’s homes and read the Bible and Science and Health. And we began to feel that what we had was something worth sharing. We felt that making Christian Science—this great gift that we had received—available to our community was a beautiful act of love. So we continued to pray, and God began to open the way. More people joined us, and eventually we became a Christian Science Society. Its presence has been a blessing to the community. For me, this was the most beautiful demonstration of how divine Love responds to humanity’s needs.