Healing is not a talking cure

Allison W. Phinney

A friend was telling me about her work with someone who had come to her for Christian healing. She wasn't saying anything that would violate any confidences. But it was her first experience of this kind, and she was telling with some relish of how much was being "uncovered" to her through her prayer. She explained that she was talking frequently to the patient about all the things that needed correction before there could be healing.

I couldn't resist asking suddenly if she would be disappointed if the healing came too quickly. We both laughed, and she saw the point.

We may need to be more ready for healing without a long course of human counsel and instruction. While prayer may indeed bring to light for patient and practitioner habits of thought that need correction, healing as understood in Christian Science isn't a talking cure, a psychological probing of personality, or a pressing for confession of sins. Even if Christian Science treatment seems required over a period of time, it nevertheless has its solid base in prayer that quietly recognizes and responds to the one Mind, God, instead of being a busy activity of the human mind.

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