No more indigestion

My husband was away for the weekend, so I decided to try out a new recipe, which was for pasta salad. It turned out to be so delicious that I ate more than I needed. When I woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible stomachache, I wondered if it was because I’d overeaten. I also thought about the ingredients and tried to guess which one might be making me feel so bad. 

But dwelling on the whys of the sickness didn’t help a bit. It only made the symptoms seem more real, and suddenly I needed to vomit. But as I hastened to the bathroom, I was halted at the foot of my bed by a clear thought: “I have indigestion because I believe I have indigestion.” 

Indigestion wasn’t a word I would ordinarily use, and it startled me. The tone of the message was firm but completely loving. It was immediately clear that as God’s spiritual reflection, I was not, never had been, and never could be subject to any material condition, including indigestion. This was accompanied by a fresh understanding that false beliefs have no power and that God is omnipotent over all, including me and what I think.

In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy states: “Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual,—neither in nor of matter,—and the body will then utter no complaints. If suffering from a belief in sickness, you will find yourself suddenly well” (p. 14). 

I became conscious of the unreality of sickness and the reality of health. And in that moment I was well. I went straight back to bed and fell asleep, rejoicing and thanking God. I enjoyed the pasta salad the rest of the weekend. The recipe is now on regular rotation at our house, and I enjoy it every time—no matter how much or little of it I eat.

Nancy Earl Harrison
Signal Mountain, Tennessee, US