Abdominal pain gone

Several years ago I faced recurring bouts of abdominal pain over a period of about nine months. They seemed to come out of nowhere, often waking me out of a deep sleep. Many times I called a friend who was a Christian Science practitioner, and with her helpful words of encouragement and spiritual truth, the pain would leave. But permanent healing eluded me, and the episodes became more frequent. I grew concerned that there might be some physical condition that required more understanding of Christian Science than I was able to demonstrate.

As a lifelong student of this Science, I was very familiar with the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, especially Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. At the time of this challenge I was First Reader of my branch church. I often pondered one of my favorite passages from Science and Health: “When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious—as Life eternally is—can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not” (p. 495).

Sickness is certainly not part of Life—another name for God, who is All-in-all and wholly good. I could see that since God is my creator, I could express only Him and His qualities. To “cling” is to hold onto something very tightly or keep it close, unwilling to let go. Mentally, even through waves of pain, I was clinging to the truth that I am God’s perfect idea, and there was no way I was going to let go. 

That passage identifies sickness as an illusion. Deep down, I knew that this illusion calling itself a physical condition could have no claim on me. I could find comfort in knowing that, whatever it was, it wasn’t real and could not touch me, a child of God, for God did not create it. The first chapter of Genesis tells us that God made man in His likeness and that everything God made is good. So what I needed was to “abide” in the consciousness of God’s allness and goodness. However, fear and doubt had crept in and were clouding thought, preventing me from being free from this “painful sense” of existence. 

But I reasoned that we are never in a vulnerable position in which we are unable to prove our dominion over a false sense. Science and Health tells us, “Know thyself, and God will supply the wisdom and the occasion for a victory over evil” (p. 571). Well, this belief in a power outside of God was evil, and regardless of the human circumstance, I never doubted that I am God’s child, created and maintained by Him. Demonstrating that truth—by unwaveringly holding to it—delivers us from sickness, and I knew it would deliver me.

One day I was driving through a desolate stretch of Nevada, taking my family to Colorado to spend Christmas in the mountains, when I began to feel the same symptoms as before. Quietly, I began to affirm that my spiritual identity as God’s perfect reflection was my only identity, and that this rumbling pain was no more than an aggressive suggestion that could not prevent me from expressing my birthright as a child of God. But before long the pain became so intense that I needed to pull over. 

We found a service station, and I continued praying as best I could. My wife, who is also a Christian Scientist, spoke the truth aloud, reminding me of passages such as the one cited earlier. When the pain didn’t yield, she firmly recited “the scientific statement of being,” found on page 468 of Science and Health: “There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual.”

Her voice pierced the clamor of the distracting material conditions, and I clung to each line of that statement, letting it fill my consciousness and push out everything contrary to it. For a moment I could see with clarity the truth of my being. I became calm as I realized I was one with God; I felt it throughout my being. I knew I was healed, and in minutes the pain disappeared completely. 

That was about ten years ago, and the pain has never returned. I am reminded of this wonderful healing whenever I read this statement from Science and Health: “Let Christian Science, instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence discord with harmony” (p. 495). 

William Dale
St. Louis, Missouri, US