Ankle and knee injuries healed
Several years ago I was attending my local branch Church of Christ, Scientist, where I would one day become a member. Attendees frequently gave testimonies of physical healings during weekly testimony meetings. I enjoyed these testimonies greatly and wanted to give my own. Yet, I’d had few substantive healings that I felt were worth sharing. I also wanted to have more healings to prove to myself that Christian Science is the real deal. Now, with several healings under my belt, I submit this as proof that Christian Science does heal and is most worthy of gratitude and devotion.
I was in a martial arts class and was prepared for someone heavier than me to jump on me. However, the excess weight badly damaged my ankle and foot, and I collapsed. That evening, a friend who is also a Christian Scientist and who was aware of the injuries, prayed with me. The next morning my ankle was swollen, and I had difficulty walking, yet I felt no pain in either my foot or my ankle. Within a few weeks, I was completely free, but it was a few more years before I finally gave thanks to God for the healing.
During another practice in this class, one of my knees swelled. The swelling eventually disappeared, but I continued to endure near-constant pain for several months. As a result of geographic distance, Sunday work, and weeknight activities, I had let my church attendance, and even my study and practice of Christian Science, fall by the wayside. So I did not attempt to heal the knee through prayer. An MRI scan confirmed that I had a torn cartilage, but the doctors didn’t advise any particular medical route to deal with it.
A few years later, the knee was still not fully restored when I tore the cartilage again. This time, I called a Christian Science practitioner for treatment through prayer. The change was almost immediate. The pain was gone in 24 hours. Two days later, after attending the Sunday church service, I comfortably walked nearly three miles. I was astounded, not imagining that such a change was possible in such a short time. A long-standing elbow injury stopped hurting at the same time.
As I continued to work with the practitioner to ensure the completeness of this healing, I dug into the metaphysical ideas she shared with me. For example, I considered deeply the “Scientific Translation of Mortal Mind” from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (see pp. 115–116). I worked to cast out of my thinking “First Degree” thoughts or characteristics such as fear, self-justification, and pride, and to express instead the moral qualities of the “Second Degree,” which include honesty, affection, and faith. This led to the “Third Degree,” which is entirely spiritual, and to my claiming my birthright as God’s child, constituted of qualities such as wisdom, love, health, and holiness. I released the practitioner, having made immense progress.
About a year later, when working with a practitioner in praying about my career, I especially appreciated this biblical promise from Psalms that she shared: “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot” (16:5). At this time, I realized that the torn cartilage in my knee had been fully healed, even though I was no longer having specific treatment for it. I returned to my daily workouts, and from the very first day, the activity confirmed that my knee was sound. God had certainly been maintaining my lot, even in ways I hadn’t realized.
I am so grateful that I no longer need to compromise on any exercise or activity that I love doing. Through reliance on God, I have proven that He is the source of our strength, and my knees are as strong and stable as they were in my youth.
Brandon Buckner
Falls Church, Virginia, US
