One of the first demonstrations of scientific Mind-healing I experienced occurred during my childhood. I was ill and the condition grew worse. My parents called a Christian Science practitioner for help. I've been told that when the practitioner came to see me, I was delirious with a high fever. She sat at my bedside and prayed quietly. Suddenly I sat up, fully conscious, and thanked her for coming. Then I fell into a deep sleep and woke refreshed and well. That was the end of the illness.

During college I found myself struggling with identity problems, as well as with the social difficulties that sometimes attend them, particularly smoking and drinking. There were also questions about dating. Up to that time I had not yet become a serious student of Science, but finally I turned to this teaching with a heartfelt desire to discover meaning and purpose in my life. I felt I had to do this alone, but I didn't feel lonely, because I sensed that the Father was right there with me.

As I learned through Science of my value to God, I began to value my true nature. I recognized that I didn't have to be anyone else or find anyone else to become complete, for He had made me complete, whole. My purpose, I realized, was to express the qualities of God, such as love, honesty, and purity. As I sought to demonstrate this newfound spiritual purpose, I started to give where before I'd simply taken. The smoking and drinking, motivated by a desire to gain social status, stopped quickly. There were worthwhile dating relationships, my grades rose dramatically, and I felt the assurance of knowing I was loved by God.

Later on, while I was serving in Europe as a Christian Science chaplain, I woke one morning with severe abdominal pain. There was also an intense fear that if the condition weren't overcome quickly, I might pass on. Accompanying this was a temptation to seek medical treatment, since the fear and pain seemed so overwhelming. However, after considering several clear, strong affirmations of Truth voiced by my wife, I could not help wholeheartedly acknowledging Christian Science as the only true healing method.

As we prayed, the belief of heredity was exposed as powerless, along with the burden of false responsibility for family. Relief came, but the beliefs were not completely destroyed, because the condition kept returning. And each time the fear of passing on was aggressive. Finally I recognized that pride and embarrassment had stood in the way of my calling an experienced Christian Scientist for help. I called a practitioner, and with this yielding of false ego, the healing came quickly. A deeper awareness of God as my only Life, and a firmer understanding of our Father-Mother God as the supreme power, directing, sustaining, and maintaining each of His beloved children, had brought total release from the fear of dying and left me with a wonderful feeling of spiritual renewal. The condition has never returned.

Through these instances of healing I've learned that God never lets us down. As we let go of self-centeredness, pride, and human will and turn away from illusive physical sense testimony, we find the comforting "still small voice" of Truth that has always been there. I am deeply grateful for Christian Science. In fact, I owe my life to its healing power.

KARL S. SANDBERG, JR.
Scituate, Massachusetts