Many years ago I awoke one morning and found walking painful, unless done very slowly. The condition was like a hernia or other effects of a strain. I had to go to work (a desk job), so I first called a Christian Science practitioner to pray for me. That evening I studied passages in Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy assigned by the practitioner, pages 490 through 495. I took a stand against physical diagnosis, a stand justified by the statement (p. 494), "Jesus demonstrated the inability of corporeality, as well as the infinite ability of Spirit, thus helping erring human sense to flee from its own convictions and seek safety in divine Science." During this study I was lifted to a high level of joy and gratitude, based on the solid conviction that all would be well. And so it was. I rode to and from work for a week or so, while walking became easier each day. I then resumed my normal habit of walking to work, and was soon free of any disorder.

The completeness of this healing is illustrated by an added bonus. I found larger and more convenient living quarters at the same time—an apartment so satisfactory that I lived there for over seven years while my job remained in that community. The strenuous work of moving, soon after my physical healing, was accomplished without any strain. This healing has been permanent: I am still enjoying tennis and mountain climbing, and other activities requiring agility.

In the same year as this healing I was inspired to follow the example set by a testimony heard in a branch Church of Christ, Scientist. The testifier quoted Psalms 121 (v. 8), "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore," and told of being consistently protected on trips begun by applying this thought. I, too, adopted the practice of bringing the verse to mind in some form when leaving my residence, and sometimes along the way. I am grateful for protection from physical injury in travel over many years.

Recently, God's protection from impending disaster was directly proved when I had a tire blowout on a high-speed freeway. When steering got beyond human control, I prayed to let God's control appear, to see the unreality of danger, seeking divine guidance and protection for myself and my fellow motorists. As the car turned around to face oncoming traffic, how comforting it was to discover that the car was not going in the dangerous direction it was pointing to! It just turned like a dial, while skidding harmlessly downstream to a halt. I further witnessed the answer to my prayers as the leaders of the right and center-lane traffic came simultaneously to a stop, side by side, at least five car-lengths upstream, and the traffic behind was light and slowing safely. I immediately cleared the way by completing an about-face turn to arrive safely in the offside emergency lane, heading correctly downstream. Traffic resumed with minimum delay, without a collision of any kind in the entire area. I had been thinking about the line, "Make channels for the streams of Love," from Hymn No. 182 of the Christian Science Hymnal.

One thing that surprised me about this experience was the complete absence of fear. I attribute this calmness to daily prayerful study which I had recently applied to overcome fear. Only a few days before, I had overcome a doubting of God's control with the aid of the Bible Lesson in the Christian Science Quarterly, particularly using these inspiring key statements in Science and Health (p. 207): "There is but one primal cause. Therefore there can be no effect from any other cause, and there can be no reality in aught which does not proceed from this great and only cause." Then on the freeway there wasn't time or room for fear, and afterwards I was filled with gratitude for God's law of protection and harmony governing all.

When an accident does occur, its effects can be overcome by Christian Science. A few years ago, a teammate and I collided and bumped heads while playing volleyball. He emerged unhurt, but I was bleeding profusely from cuts on the lower lip. I left the game and went home to study and pray. It was not particularly painful, but when the bleeding continued I called a practitioner. My concern immediately subsided, and within minutes the bleeding stopped, and the swelling began to diminish. When I showed up for volleyball on the next weekend, there was not even a visible scar. I found inspiration in Science and Health (pp. 390-394) on this occasion, and also for healing of colds and flu on other occasions. "Suffer no claim of sin or of sickness to grow upon the thought. Dismiss it with an abiding conviction that it is illegitimate, because you know that God is no more the author of sickness than He is of sin" (ibid., p. 390).

For all of these healings, and also for a growing understanding of the healings and teachings of Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy, gained through many channels of the Christian Science movement, I am indeed most grateful.

Richard A. Batchelder
Huntington Beach, California