One evening last fall I turned on the television to listen to the...

Rita Hayes Hornbeak

One evening last fall I turned on the television to listen to the nightly news. The first words I heard proclaimed were that this was the "flu season" and it was time for everyone to get flu shots! I was reminded of how grateful I was that through Christian Science I have been healed of influenza, colds, cough, as well as many other maladies, such as warts on one hand, pain and aches, and grief at the passing of loved ones.

About a year before this, I had wakened in the night with all the unpleasant symptoms of flu. I was so uncomfortable that I just thrashed around in the bed for a while. Then the thought came to me that I didn't have to put up with this. I could pray at once, as Christian Science had taught me to do, and be healed! Some words came to my thought: "Prayer changes things." Years before I had attended a small university where these words were inscribed on a plaque on the library building. This was just what I needed to remind me of the healing power of prayer.

In the morning I was completely well; I had no symptoms of flu.

Immediately I turned my thought to God and prayed to recognize more clearly His allness, presence, and all-power, as well as His all-loving nature as divine Spirit, divine Principle, Love. This loving Father-Mother God creates only a good, spiritual universe, including man. As I prayed, I realized I couldn't change God and His perfect creation. My need was to accept the spiritual facts of being and correct the misconceptions I was believing about God and man. My perfection as God's spiritual idea was complete and sound; it always had been. Illness was a false belief tempting me to believe in the so-called reality of matter and material existence, which could not be true since God, divine Mind, is All-in-all.

I wasn't praying to change a diseased material body into a healthy material body. On the contrary, I was praying to correct false belief with the spiritual facts of being. I continued to pray for some time, and to be obedient to these words from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy: "When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought" (p. 495).

As I continued praying, the symptoms gradually abated and I went back to sleep. When I woke in the morning, I was completely well; I had no symptoms of flu. This is just one of the many healings I have had, and my gratitude grows more deeply each day for this practical Science of Christ. My life has truly been enriched and blessed by it.

Rita Hayes Hornbeak
San Diego, California

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