When I was an infant of six months I became very ill

Ruth B. Howlett

When I was an infant of six months I became very ill. A doctor diagnosed the case as double pneumonia but gave no treatment, saying I could not live through the night. In fact, he offered to sign my death certificate. My mother declined his offer (which was meant to save her a trip the next day), and instead a Christian Science practitioner came to the house; and she and my grandmother sat up all night praying. My great-grandfather, who later became a student of Christian Science, joined them, reading the Bible throughout the night. By morning the healing had come.

While, of course, I was not aware of the healing at the time, it was recounted to me with great gratitude while I was growing up.

Later, when I was in second grade, the school nurse sent me home one Friday and told me not to come back to school the following Monday without glasses, as my eyes were crossed. I was immediately taken by my parents to see my grandmother, who prayed for me and talked to me of the truth—that God is perfect and so man, His beloved child, is perfect. When I returned to school on Monday my eyes were straight and have been ever since.

Another healing, which really forced me to get back to the basics of spiritual understanding, came over twenty years ago when for some time I had difficulty walking, sleeping, and eating. My children were teen-agers then, and one day the practitioner who was helping me alerted me to the need to make a choice: Was I going to die, or live and care for my children? The question startled me and I said, "Of course I'm going to live!"

Soon after, the practitioner asked me to read "The New Birth" in Miscellaneous Writings by Mrs. Eddy. When I came to these words, it was as though a light had been turned on (p. 16): "Here, then, is the awakening from the dream of life in matter, to the great fact that God is the only Life; that, therefore, we must entertain a higher sense of both God and man." Instantly I stood up in the strength of that truth and walked without any help to the patio. I moved about, gardening, thrilled to be doing something useful again. The full healing was soon obvious.

The freedom was wonderful, and what I learned, or in a sense relearned, of God as Life has been a strong support and guide to me ever since, enabling me to pray effectively for myself and to help others through prayer.

I am deeply grateful for the work of Mrs. Eddy, who, in establishing the Cause of Christian Science, reinstated the way of healing Christ Jesus taught. I am also thankful for the consecrated pioneers in Christian Science healing whom I observed as a child, as well as for the present workers, who glorify God in their lives and in their practice of the truth.

Ruth B. Howlett
Kenilworth, Illinois

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