I Had Struggled with allergies every spring and fall as a teenager, and when I was an adult the problem only got worse with each passing season. I occasionally visited a doctor to see if there were any new cures. But allergies were thought to be hereditary, so I was told there was no cure, only ways to manage the discomfort. The most effective treatment was weekly lifetime shots. I disliked going to doctors and was very opposed to receiving shots, so I chose another popular option. I took different types of allergy pills for about thirty years.

I've since learned that no one has to live with allergies of any kind. Let me share with you how this problem was healed through Christian Science.

In early January, about nine years ago, I began to study Christian Science, and by the end of that February I had completely read the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. I experienced several wonderful quick healings simply by reading that book. Since spring was approaching, I wanted to see what the author had written about heredity and allergies.

Boy, was I enlightened. She wrote, "Heredity is not a law" (p. 178). I was stunned. I had always believed it was a law of some kind. To learn more, I set aside time each afternoon for prayer, and to study this book and the Bible. As I did, I could not find any place in either book that states we can suffer from bad genetic makeup or from bad heredity. In fact, the Bible states that we "have a goodly heritage" (Ps. 16:6). I really liked knowing that.

Science and Health says, "Heredity is a prolific subject for mortal belief to pin theories upon; but if we learn that nothing is real but the right, we shall have no dangerous inheritances, and fleshly ills will disappear" (p. 228). So I did not have to suffer from allergies, because I could inherit only good from God, who is my creator.

I pondered another statement that directly deals with allergies: "It is profane to fancy that the perfume of clover and the breath of new-mown hay can cause glandular inflammation, sneezing, and nasal pangs" (p. 175). Wow, I thought, it really is ridiculous to believe that I can suffer from beautiful plants, trees, grass, or flowers. What I was learning made so much sense to me, but I wondered if I really understood it well enough to prove it in my own experience.

By late March I realized that the spring allergies were not bothering me and that I had no need to buy any medication. But was I cured? I wasn't sure, so I continued to study.

During the next few weeks I pored over many different ideas, understanding more deeply my "goodly heritage." Then one day things really jelled as I learned that I can and should guard my thought, and not let any unhealthy thoughts or fears intrude upon my consciousness. I stopped listening to the pollen reports and to all those allergy medication commercials on television. I realized I did not need to take into my consciousness what others were saying about allergies and their treatments.

A few weeks later I noticed how beautiful the yellow flowers were along the roadside. Then something said to me, "Those flowers are ragweed, and you should be sneezing." I was not sneezing, so I quickly said to myself, "There is no valid reason for those lovely flowers to make me sneeze today or any other day." That was the end of it. I knew I was healed. To this day, I do not suffer from allergies. I can now enjoy the smell of freshly mown grass and breathe deeply throughout the year. I can even play with cats (I had an allergic reaction to them before). I rejoice in this complete healing. We all can stop and smell the flowers, without paying a penalty.