Daily Practice February 9, 2026 Issue

The healing gift of Love

Lisa Rennie Sytsma

You could say that the original Valentine’s Day present wasn’t chocolate or roses, but the gift of sight. Legend has it that, in the third century ad, the Christian who later became known as St. Valentine was arrested for performing marriages in defiance of the orders of Roman Emperor Claudius II, who preferred his soldiers to have no family ties. One of Valentine’s jailers, a Roman judge named Asterius, had a daughter who was blind. Having heard that Christians healed through prayer, Asterius asked if Valentine could restore his daughter’s sight. When the daughter was healed, Asterius and his entire household converted to Christianity.

Centuries later, the Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, discovered the Science behind the healing works done by Christ Jesus and his followers. Through her love of the Bible and experiences of healing herself and others, she understood and proved that, as she wrote, “no person can heal or reform mankind unless he is actuated by love and good will towards men” (Message to The Mother Church for 1902, p. 8). In answer to the question, “What is the best way to do instantaneous healing?” Mrs. Eddy said, according to an early student’s recollection: “It is to love! Just live love—be it—love, love, love. Do not know anything but Love. Be all love. There is nothing else. That will do the work. It will heal everything; it will raise the dead. Be nothing but love” (We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Expanded Edition, Vol. 1, pp. 296–297).

To “be all love” can sound pretty daunting, especially if we don’t feel particularly loved ourselves, or don’t see how we can love when we see terrible things going on in the world or in the lives of people around us. But if expressing, being, love is exactly the way we’ll see healing of the problems confronting us and others, then isn’t it worth trying? Especially since we have help.

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