For as far back in my childhood as I can remember, about six weeks of every summer were a nightmare for me; I suffered from a severe allergy and this included asthmatic attacks. Physicians prescribed year-round inoculations and a great many prescription medicines, some of which gave temporary relief; but the condition only grew worse as I reached adulthood. By the time I was in my early twenties, I was always scheming to escape to a pollen-free location during at least part of this period; and, even though by this time I had become a serious student of Christian Science, fear kept me from abandoning the inoculations. I was afraid that I did not understand Christian Science well enough to heal this condition through prayer.

One day while I was studying the weekly Bible Lesson, the following sentences from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, caught my attention: "The scientific government of the body must be attained through the divine Mind. It is impossible to gain control over the body in any other way. On this fundamental point, timid conservatism is absolutely inadmissible. Only through radical reliance on Truth can scientific healing power be realized."

It became very clear to me that, in spite of many healings I had already had solely through the application of Christian Science, in the present case I was being governed by fear and dominated by the human mind and not the divine Mind. There was not only no "radical reliance on Truth," there was no reliance at all. I realized that I was like the woman in the Bible who had spent all her living on physicians but grew no better but rather worse before she was healed by Christ Jesus. Then and there I decided to drop the inoculations, and I turned completely to God to heal this long-standing difficulty. The healing came very quickly and has been complete now for about twenty years.

More recently I noticed an unattractive bit of skin growing on my face. Since it was not bothering me and would not, I thought, be noticeable to others, I procrastinated about praying about the condition. Then a friend who is a Christian Scientist told of his healing of an ugly and obvious growth on his face, and it made a deep impression on me.

Only a few days later my own growth grew worse. My son asked me what I was doing about this. I assured him that I would take care of it. And I did. That morning I prayed for a clearer realization of the unblemished, unsullied man of God's creating. A verse from a hymn in the Christian Science Hymnal was particularly helpful to me just then:

My thought was uplifted, and soon the growth disappeared.

I am, of course, deeply grateful for these and many other healings; but, most of all, I am grateful for the way my life has been enriched through the study of Christian Science.

Daniel W. Winter
Wooster, Ohio