It took many years for me to learn a simple lesson: that any problem we face, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is a demand for healing that should not be ignored. These are actually important opportunities to grow in our trust and understanding of God, and great rewards can come of healing small problems.

After graduation from college, as I began an active career, some annoying growths developed on my feet. Because they weren't painful, most of the time they were easy to ignore. Although I felt it would be nice to have this healed, I was so busy with the concerns of my work and other activities that I rarely took the time to pray about the condition.

As I look back on this, it seems the real difficulty was not the growths on my feet but a growing apathy that would slowly, subtly erode my faith in the ability of Christian Science to heal. It was a call for me to be more spiritually awake and alert. I needed to see that active, dedicated prayer was being required, even demanded, of me. I read in Science and Health: "Every day makes its demands upon us for higher proofs rather than professions of Christian power. These proofs consist solely in the destruction of sin, sickness, and death by the power of Spirit, as Jesus destroyed them. This is an element of progress, and progress is the law of God, whose law demands of us only what we can certainly fulfil" (p. 233).

I came to see that because this demand was being made of me, I could certainly fulfill it by applying my present understanding of the law of God. Not long after gaining this higher sense of the need for progress, I faced another demand for healing. While rearranging the furniture in my office one day, as I lifted the end of the desk there was a sharp pain in my back. It took my breath away, and I could not speak for a few moments because of the pain. But at the same time these words from the Christian Science Hymnal came to thought: "Man pure and upright, whole and free" (No. 12). The complete verse reads:

I knew this was a statement of my own—and everyone's—true condition as the man of God's creating, and that the light of God's glory would shine through prayer to bring healing. Soon I was able to sit down, but I could not stand upright. I knew that if I really understood why man is pure, upright, whole, and free I would be healed. This was a wake-up call to persist in discovering man's spiritual identity.

I gained enough comfort to make it through the day, but the next morning there was still significant pain and I could not stand erect. I took the day off, so I could uninterruptedly persist in prayer. I called a Christian Science practitioner to treat me, and the ideas he shared brought strength and direction to my own prayers. It was a joy-filled day of inspiration and awakening to an understanding of the invariable nature of God's man. I discovered that man, as the outcome of the divine Principle, is eternally upright, strong, consistent, and persistent. He has never fallen, and can never fall from this state of flawless rectitude as God's highest idea. I also learned that there is not a speck of power, influence, or substance outside of divine Love to disrupt or infect God's perfection and its reflection in man. Wholeness implies completeness, wellness, perfect health—a flawlessness that cannot be damaged. There were many other profound truths I learned that day. It was a real turning point in my understanding.

By that evening all the pain was gone and I was truly upright and free! And what a great joy to discover a few days later that the growths on my feet had completely vanished, after eight years.

Through this experience I have gained a stronger confidence in the effectiveness of Christian Science healing and a deep appreciation for Mary Baker Eddy's inspiration, accuracy, and thoroughness in presenting the Science of our Master's teaching to mankind.

John D. Minard
Arlington, Massachusetts