How can I show my friends that Christian Science is “for real”?
Q: Sometimes I feel awkward because I’m a Christian Scientist, and it seems like everyone is watching me when I’m working on a healing to see if Christian Science really is “for real.” I’m not sure how to get past that feeling.
A: Oh, I hear you!
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I was feeling that way not too long ago when my eye became puffy and swollen, and it was hard to see. I was praying about it, but I knew I was going to be around other people that day and didn’t want them to think about my eye or ask me what I was doing about it. That’s when it starts to get awkward, right? Relying on prayer for healing is a foreign concept to a lot of people, and I didn’t want to have to explain myself.
But as I brushed my teeth that morning, I suddenly had the thought that God didn’t need me to stick up for Him—to sort of prove that He really is omnipotent. He’s God, for heaven’s sake!
I suddenly had the thought that God didn’t need me to stick up for Him. He’s God, for heaven’s sake!
My husband is a coach and says that on successful teams there is “role definition and role acceptance.” At that moment, I realized I had completely reversed the roles. God was not relying on me to prove that He exists and is all good. The truth is that I exist because God exists, and nothing can change or diminish or hide that—even if I felt I was imperfectly demonstrating that truth!
It felt like a burden lifted off of me, and it reminded me of a healing I’d had a while ago when I was an aerobics instructor in New York City. A friend from my local church had helped me get the job, so everyone at the studio knew I was a Christian Scientist, even before I started.
At one point, I lost my voice and wasn’t able to talk above a whisper. It was hard for me to teach like that, but I kept going—and I kept praying. A couple of weeks went by, and the condition just got worse. Some of the clients wondered why I wasn’t having medical treatment.
One evening, I had finished teaching my class and was all alone in the studio, feeling like a total failure as a Christian Scientist because I still hadn’t been healed. I was also worried that everyone would think poorly of Christian Science because of me. I called the Christian Science practitioner who’d been praying for me and whispered my fears to him.
He stopped me and said something I’ll never forget: “Hilary, you do not support this church; this church supports you. Get it straight.” I knew he was referring to Mary Baker Eddy’s spiritual definition of Church in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that says Church is “The structure of Truth and Love” (p. 583).
Truth and Love are names for God, and the practitioner went on to ask if I really thought I could somehow hurt Truth. How about Love? Really?
I was grateful for yet another lesson showing that the teachings of Christian Science truly do support us. Not the other way around.
I laughed at that and thanked him.
Later that evening, I went to a service at my local Christian Science church. For weeks I hadn’t been able to sing in church, but that night I sang all three hymns with complete freedom. I was healed!
The practitioner’s clarity about what was doing the supporting shook me out of my ignorance, pride, and fear. It woke me up to the false sense of responsibility I’d been holding on to and put the care of our church, Christian Science, and all of us squarely where it has always been: with God.
It’s funny how we sometimes need to keep learning the same lessons as we move forward. The day when I was fearful of having others comment on and wonder about my eye passed without anyone saying or apparently noticing anything. Within a short time, the eye problem was healed, and I was grateful for yet another lesson showing that the teachings of Christian Science and the countless healings others have experienced through applying those teachings are “for real”—and truly do support us. Not the other way around.