Since 1959, when I suffered from severe heart trouble and the doctors sent me home to die, I have relied on God in Christian Science. God healed me of the heart trouble, and I learned that His love had always been with me.

When I became a widow and was living alone, I felt a great sense of loss. So I turned to God, yearning for a more spiritual understanding of both God and His idea, man. Passages I pondered from the Bible, and Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy gave me the strength to carry on. Yet I still had much to overcome, and help from a loving Christian Science practitioner was requested and given. Gradually I gained my peace.

A daughter, who was also alone and had two children to support, needed work. She found it in another state. At that time it seemed wise for us to pool our resources, sell my house, and buy one together located near her work. There was a lot of controversy about this move; people gave us advice and warned us about difficulties we would have. Again I asked for prayerful assistance from the practitioner and listened for God's direction. Although my daughter and I were faced with many adverse reports on the housing market, I clung to the truth that if we listened, God would guide us. My house was sold quickly, and we were able to buy the other house in three weeks. God was with us all the way.

Another blessing I am grateful for came one year around Thanksgiving. Two days before the holiday, we were all happily planning to go to my son's house for the weekend (a two-hundred-mile trip). Then I fell. Immediately I said, "No, this can't happen. God does not know of accidents." I managed to get into bed. Then I called a practitioner and asked for help. I told him of the problem and how disappointed the grandchildren would be if they did not get to go on the trip. The practitioner said that he would pray for me; and he encouraged us to feel free to go, knowing that God was with us. We went to my son's. The day after Thanksgiving my healing of the effects of the fall was complete. We had a beautiful visit and a safe trip home. I am so grateful for this healing.

More recently I've had an added reason to be grateful for what I've learned in divine Science. For two months I stayed with and took care of a friend who was ill. I was glad to do this. I neglected, however, to affirm that one cannot be made to suffer as a result of doing a good deed for another. Mrs. Eddy brings this need out in the allegory of a court case given in Science and Health (pp. 430–442). On page 435 is this clear statement: "Watching beside the couch of pain in the exercise of a love that 'is the fulfilling of the law,'—doing 'unto others as ye would that they should do unto you,'—this is no infringement of law, for no demand, human or divine, renders it just to punish a man for acting justly."

About two weeks after I returned to my own home, I woke one morning around two o'clock. Sleep and rest seemed impossible. As I tried to relax, it came to me to call the practitioner who had prayed for me before. When he answered I told him what was wrong, and that I could not breathe easily. He agreed to give me Christian Science treatment. A couple of nights later I could not move even to call the practitioner. My granddaughter called him for me. After reminding me of my spiritual birthright and who I really was—God's child—he said he would pray for me right away.

I continued to receive the practitioner's help for almost a year. References I studied, which were very useful to me, include these from the Bible: "Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast" (Ps. 57:1); and: "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings" (Ps. 40:1, 2).

At first I was not able to get out of bed or feed myself. Then, as progress was made, I went from a wheelchair to a walker. Finally I was able to feed myself, attend church using a walker, and use a cane at home. Eventually full healing came, and I dispensed with the walker and cane and was able to walk freely.

It is impossible to express in words how grateful I am to God for this healing and for the practitioner's clear understanding of the perfection of God's child. I am also grateful for my family, who helped me hold to the spiritual truths that we learn in our daily study of Christian Science.

ZILLAH MAUDE MICHIE GATES
Syracuse, New York