One night, my wife and I awoke to the sound of our toddler son crying. We hurried to his room and found him feverish. My wife began to comfort him by singing familiar hymns from the Christian Science Hymnal. As I reached out to God, the words “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear” from the Bible came to thought (I John 4:18). I paused, as I did not feel that I was particularly fearful at that moment, but I took that message as an imperative to love our son in a more “perfect” way. 

What did that mean?

It said to me that I should more consistently cherish our son as his Father-Mother God created him—not as a toddler susceptible to illness, but as a fully complete spiritual idea with permanent health derived from God, divine Spirit. 

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, explains the term Father-Mother in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Father-Mother is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation. As the apostle expressed it in words which he quoted with approbation from a classic poet: ‘For we are also His offspring’ ” (p. 332). It stands to reason that, as the offspring of God, we reflect all of the qualities of God, which include goodness, purity, health, and perfection. My task was to acknowledge that this was just as true for our son as for his mom and me and everyone else.

As my wife and I sang and prayed, our son fell into a restful and peaceful sleep. He awoke with no sign of fever.

A few days after this experience, I was studying that week’s Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly and noticed this statement next to a citation I had marked previously: “Destroy fear, and you end fever” (Science and Health, p. 376). The inspiration to cast out fear suddenly made a lot of sense.

I also noticed a change in how I used our video baby monitor. Previously, I had sometimes stared at and zoomed in on the tiny screen, waiting until I saw the reassuring, subtle movement of our son’s breathing to calm irrational fears. Now, there was no fear, and I found I didn’t need the reassurance of constantly checking the monitor. I am so grateful for the way God cares for my needs and those of my family.

Ken Baughman
Natick, Massachusetts, US