My joy and appreciation for the Cause of Christian Science and...

Lorraine Purdue

My joy and appreciation for the Cause of Christian Science and for a healing my son had over eight years ago know no limits.

Because we were adopting him, we were required by State law to take him to a pediatrician each month for a checkup. We had noticed that his left ankle seemed twisted, but we had thought it would straighten out. At his third monthly checkup the attending doctor told me that the next time I brought the baby to him they would put him in a cast from the hip down, as they felt the deformity was in the hip. I was a new student of Christian Science, and this news was very disheartening to me. On the way home I stopped for a visit at the home of a Christian Scientist. When I told her what the doctor had said, she told me she would never accept that opinion at all, and she was sure God could heal any problem.

I called a Christian Science practitioner, and for the next three weeks Christian Science treatment was prayerfully given. The ankle did not straighten out, and I became discouraged. One day, however, during the study of that week's Lesson-Sermon from the Christian Science Quarterly, these words from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy stood out (p. 63): "In Science man is the offspring of Spirit. The beautiful, good, and pure constitute his ancestry. His origin is not, like that of mortals, in brute instinct, nor does he pass through material conditions prior to reaching intelligence. Spirit is his primitive and ultimate source of being; God is his Father, and Life is the law of his being."

When I took the baby for his next checkup, no mention at all was made of the ankle. I gave no more thought to it until he was nine months old. At the last physical checkup before we were to go to court to complete the adoption, the doctor admitted the child's ankle had become straight but insisted that he have an X ray of the baby's hips, as that was probably where the deformity really was. I objected, and he said, "I refuse to sign these papers until I have that picture."

It suddenly occurred to me that the picture I had of the baby was one of perfection. Almost all the words of the above quotation came to me, and I applied them to the child as God's idea, especially the last sentence, "Spirit is his primitive and ultimate source of being; God is his Father, and Life is the law of his being." Serene in this conviction, I took the baby for the X ray, and of course it showed no deformity.

I am very grateful for our devoted practitioners. I count it a privilege to be a member of The Mother Church and a branch church and for the continuing unfoldment of good, especially since having class instruction.

(Mrs.) Lorraine Purdue
Orange, California

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