Cold symptoms and stress healed in the warmth of Love

I still remember a testimony I heard as a child at a Wednesday evening service in the branch Church of Christ, Scientist, my family attended. A woman recounted how she had been healed of the symptoms of a cold by realizing that in the warmth of divine Love, God, there can be no cold.

This made sense to me. In Christian Science Sunday School, I was learning to look beneath the surface of my experiences to find the thoughts they represented, and then to replace thoughts that aren’t good, such as fear or discomfort, with the understanding of God’s all-good, 100 percent spiritual creation.

The first chapter of the Bible puts it this way: “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). This account introduces God as purposeful good, the creator of only that which is spiritual and perfect, including His children—all of us. In my practice of Christian Science, I’ve found that when I turn from an inharmonious, material view of things to God’s wholly good and spiritual view, healing happens. 

Early in my career, I worked in a big city for a large employer. The job demanded that everyone on the team continually meet high professional standards. One Saturday morning, I woke up with all the symptoms of a heavy cold. As I usually do when a problem arises, I reached out to God for help—and remembered the idea from the testimony I’d heard as a child: In the warmth of divine Love, there can be no cold. This was my starting point. It reminded me that God is infinite, ever-present, all-powerful, pure Love.

But something came to mind that didn’t agree with this view of reality. I saw that I had unwittingly accepted the notion that pressure and stress are normal in a career and that I had to prove myself through exceptional human effort, personal intelligence, and accomplishments that compared favorably with those of others—and that maybe I didn’t measure up. This was a cold and burdensome perspective.

Immediately, I dropped that cold view and mentally nestled into the arms of my Father-Mother, God. I felt assured that we can never be outside of Love’s presence and care because Love is everywhere. Love embraces Her children—everyone, not just me—in peace and joy.

I also realized that divine Mind, another name for God, expresses limitless capabilities in all of His spiritual ideas. There is no competition among God’s children. Every child of God is the full representation of divine Mind and therefore includes and expresses Mind’s intelligence, insight, and wisdom. The Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, assures us, “All is under the control of the one Mind, even God” (p. 544).

My self-oriented attitude and the accompanying tension and stress gently yielded to the harmony of the all-loving divine Mind. I felt humble and more ready to be the joyful expression and reflection of God rather than trying to be a personal doer. 

During the forty-five minutes or so of letting my thinking be washed clean by divine Love, I forgot all about the cold. Then I realized that the symptoms of the cold were completely gone. More importantly, my perspective had shifted to focus less on me and more on trusting in God’s loving government. This brought a lasting feeling of calm, comfortable teamwork with coworkers and successful results.

I am so grateful for Mrs. Eddy’s provision of weekly testimony meetings as one of the activities of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Each meeting is like a spiritual potluck, where everyone benefits from the inspiration and healings that are shared in praise of our loving Father-Mother God.

Ann Kneeland
San Rafael, California, US