Throughout my childhood Christian Science healed me quickly of various diseases. A healing of recurring earaches stands out; my mother called a Christian Science practitioner to pray for me, who helped me to gain an understanding of my true identity as a perfect, healthy child of God. I remember praying with the statement on page 463 from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, "A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive."

One Wednesday evening my mother went to church, leaving me resting on her bed (Dad was home with me). After she left I thought about that statement and reasoned: "I am a spiritual idea; I cannot have any evil, because God is good and He fills all space. This truth of God's allness removes in a proper, understandable manner anything unlike Him—anything offensive." Shortly after this the pain disappeared. I have never experienced this kind of ear problem again.

Five years ago I had another important healing. I began feeling extreme pain at the base of my spine, and would occasionally find signs of some kind of discharge. I became quite fearful, remembering that both my father and an older brother had had a similar condition. They had chosen to have medical attention, with mixed results.

I called a practitioner, as I felt unable to overcome the fear on my own. She prayed for me diligently, but there seemed to be no relief. At one point the practitioner visited me at my home. I'm grateful that she insisted on the importance of ongoing prayer, and that she reminded me to hold my thought to the truths of God that I had learned. She pointed out that one synonym for God is Principle, meaning He is the only source and law of the universe. When we understand that God is good, and made only good, and know ourselves to be God's creation, we can only experience His goodness. There is in fact no mortal history for man, but rather only perfect, spiritual existence. That same evening I felt a sudden release from fear, and the pain also left.

When the symptoms appeared again some months later, I called the same practitioner, and we prayed to recognize the completeness and permanence of God's healing power—the truth that man's original perfection could never be undone. In a matter of days I was free again, and that healing has remained permanent.

One day while crossing some trolley tracks on a busy street, I fell and landed on my wrist. I was momentarily dazed, and bystanders helped me up, offering to take me to a nearby hospital. I declined and continued on to a friend's apartment. But I was in pain, and unable to use my arm or move my fingers. Upon reaching the apartment, I called a practitioner, who began to pray for me; the pain diminished, and was gone by morning.

As I was still unable to use my arm, I decided to stay at a Christian Science nursing facility where I could have the proper physical care and be freed to pray and study.

The practitioner gave me a list of articles and testimonies of healings to read from the Christian Science periodicals that dealt specifically with physical healings of broken bones. I also continued to read through Science and Health, a project I had started earlier.

During my study I was reminded of an inharmonious confrontation I'd had with a relative the year before. Further, I realized I had been holding a grudge against this individual. Immediately I recognized that there could be no separation between us as God's ideas; God is one, and God is Love, and so there can be no broken realtionship in His creation. I felt a deep love for my relative.

As I clearly understood God as being the source of all right relationships, I was able to move my fingers, and shortly I had full use of my arm. Soon after this healing I was lifting heavy files at work and continuing all normal activities. I also had an opportunity to reestablish good communication with my relative.

Prayer has helped me to find housing and employment, to overcome time limitations, and to solve financial problems. Through prayer I found the ability to return to school, after a long absence from the academic world.

I continue to be grateful for the peace and freedom that prayer and the study and practice of Christian Science bring to my life.

Jane Bullard
Elsah, Illinois