Simple spiritual truths of health and of man's likeness to God...

Joan Fewsmith

Simple spiritual truths of health and of man's likeness to God have great power to heal.

When I was a young woman, I became severely afflicted with hay fever. Most of my family found themselves in this same condition each fall, but one year I appeared to manifest it worse than ever. I was unable to sleep at night without several pillows to bolster me, and my appearance was so pitiful that many persons offered a medical remedy.

In desperation I visited a doctor, and for a day I improved. But then I became more ill than before and more miserable. I thought, "All these persons who offer help and solutions have not been healed. And the doctor's aid is temporary. Surely there's a better way!"

I knew of Christian Science through an aunt who had been healed of a serious, supposedly incurable condition after she turned wholeheartedly to the new religion. I was interested in knowing more of Science because of her, for she expressed many loving qualities. Now, in my deep need, I thought, "I'll try Christian Science!" I telephoned an acquaintance who worked in a Christian Science Reading Room to ask for help. She gave me the names of three Christian Science practitioners listed in The Christian Science Journal, with the advice to "choose one prayerfully."

The lovely woman I sought knew that I came to her with childlike understanding of God, and she talked to me accordingly. She told me, for instance, that I must be thankful for all the good in my life, even for the fact that I could walk down the street and breathe, and that I must feel myself beloved of God always. Then she prayed for me. Within two days I was quite free from hay fever. The healing was permanent.

Quick healings are now a frequent occurrence in our family. One evening our small son cried because of the pain of an earache. I repeated to him the familiar first line of the twenty-third Psalm: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want," and added, "You see, you 'shall not want.' That means you shall not need anything. You shall not need comfort, even. God has already given it to you!" His crying stopped, and he went to sleep in a few moments. Never again did he have an earache.

Another simple and immediate healing came about at a time when my head, particularly the right side of my face, was in great pain. When I went to bed, I remembered that I had been taught in Christian Science to heal myself through prayer to God before sleeping. So, though the desire for slumber was almost overwhelming, I clung to the Bible words (Ps. 104:30), "Thou sendest forth thy spirit...and thou renewest the face of the earth." My own thought was, "If He renews the earth—it follows that He renews me also." A surge of sudden happiness followed, and the pain left.

As my understanding of this Science and the ever-enduring love of God for me and all has grown, my blessings have been without number. It has become a habit to turn to God, good, many times in a day, and I am truly guarded and guided. How great a gift came to me on that fall day long ago!

Church membership and class instruction brought renewed faith in God's omnipresence, as well as a deeper desire to walk in the path of the Way-shower, Christ Jesus, and his follower, Mrs. Eddy.

(Mrs.) Joan Fewsmith
San Marino, California

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