The other night while watching a news program, I saw a segment on a problem called agoraphobia. It brought to mind a wonderful healing I had experienced. Several years ago I would feel ill, faint, and very fearful whenever I was in a public place—in a supermarket checkout line, a restaurant, church, and so forth. The problem was never named because it was never medically diagnosed, but what was described on the television program as agoraphobia was what I apparently had.

I became aware of this problem one Sunday while I was teaching a class of young boys in a Christian Science Sunday School. (I had been a student of Christian Science a few years, had had class instruction in Science, and was filled with gratitude for this new way of life.) All of a sudden I felt extremely weak. The thought came to me, "What would you do if you fainted? Everyone would see you. The children would be upset." I caught the attention of the Sunday School superintendent and walked out.

The next week I worked diligently with the Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly, notes taken during class instruction, and references from the Concordances to the Bible and to Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. The following Saturday I visited a Christian Science practitioner. She comforted me by sharing this line from page 380 of Science and Health: "Truth is always the victor." Also, she called my attention to the following words in Mrs. Eddy's book Miscellaneous Writings (p. 355): "To strike out right and left against the mist, never clears the vision; but to lift your head above it, is a sovereign panacea." The truth of these statements began to unfold in my thought.

I wish I could say the problem was worked out right away, but it wasn't. The next Sunday I was back in my place as a Sunday School teacher. But when one of the boys said, "Do you feel better today?" that did it. Out I went. I went home and took up the battle again.

One morning, several months later, after much dedicated study and prayer, I read the following statement in Science and Health (p. 124): "Adhesion, cohesion, and attraction are properties of Mind. They belong to divine Principle, and support the equipoise of that thought-force, which launched the earth in its orbit and said to the proud wave, 'Thus far and no farther.' "

I decided this problem had handled me long enough. "Thus far and no farther"—I would take my stand with God's help. With that I drove to the supermarket. Once inside, I put several items in my shopping cart. When I got in the checkout line, my hands were wet and I felt faint. I thought, "What is the worse thing that could happen? I might faint and fall; a lot of people would see me. So... what else? They might call an ambulance and take me to a hospital. So...what else? No one would know where I was." Then an angel message came, reminding me that God is ever present and all-knowing; never separated from His child. I stood in line. The sentences quoted earlier from page 124 of Science and Health, along with other truths I had learned through the study of Christian Science, came to me. When I got through the line and was outside I felt as though I had climbed Mount Everest. I wanted to shout for joy. I was free. I was healed!

The hours spent studying the Bible and Science and Health and Mrs. Eddy's other writings had awakened me to perceive something of God's allness. That was it. I knew I could not be separated from Him, no matter where I seemed to be.

Our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, clearly explained the method and art of true Christian healing. I am grateful for her dedication to this work. The continuous unfoldment of Truth is our "daily bread."

EVELYN RUTH WELLS
Van Nuys, California