One morning in August 2024 , I woke up with itchy red welts covering my upper back and shoulders. I began praying with what I’d learned in my study of Christian Science. 

I knew the condition was not real, because God created all and, being infinite good, never created evil of any kind, including illness. I reasoned that if I reacted to the itchiness by scratching, I would be acting based on a belief that it was real. This helped me not to react. For about a week I continued affirming spiritual truths regarding man’s perfection as the offspring of God.

When this symptom changed to severe inflammation, I texted a Christian Science practitioner for metaphysical treatment. Although it was a Sunday morning, and I knew he would be getting ready to teach Sunday School, he texted me right back, reminding me that Life, a synonym for God, Spirit, is never in matter; it is spiritual and perpetually good. He pointed out that evil cannot suddenly appear, for there is nowhere for it to come from, since God is the creator of all that is real.

What came to mind then was this statement by Mary Baker Eddy: “Christian Science never healed a patient without proving with mathematical certainty that error, when found out, is two-thirds destroyed, and the remaining third kills itself” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 210). It struck me that I’d recently become emotionally “inflamed” about something in my life. It happened to be a good thing, but nevertheless, I was overly excited about it and even feeling a bit out of control. 

It was clear that I needed to address this error by understanding “this trumpet-word of Truth, ‘There is no death, no inaction, diseased action, overaction, nor reaction’ ” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp. 427–428). Once the error was uncovered, and thus two-thirds destroyed, I was able to change my attitude, and my behavior shifted accordingly. And over the next week, the physical condition diminished until it finally disappeared. 

I am very grateful to that practitioner for responding immediately when I reached out. This ready help demonstrated Jesus’ promise recorded in Matthew 18:20: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Most of all, I’m grateful to God for giving the world Christian Science.

Dan Ziskind
Ballwin, Missouri, US