I have studied Christian Science all of my life and have had many healings through prayer. My husband was not a Christian Scientist, but was always supportive of my religion. In cases of illness, medical treatment was his first choice, but generally he was willing for me to rely on treatment through prayer for myself and for our five children. If one of us had a physical difficulty that did not yield to prayer, we then honored his request to consult a doctor, but those times were rare.

Once I was troubled by a continual cough and extreme debilitation. At the time, I was involved in many activities and school projects with the children, holding down a part-time job, and keeping up with family obligations. I was also in charge of a fundraising activity for our children's school. Burden and responsibility were weighing me down, as I felt I needed to complete this fundraising project. I had been praying about my physical condition, but when it got worse, my husband, who was very concerned for me, asked a doctor to come to our home.

The doctor told my husband that I had a life-threatening case of pneumonia. He prescribed some medication. But instead of taking the medication, I asked to call a Christian Science practitioner to pray for me. I wanted to rely on Christian Science treatment for healing, having seen it bring so many other healings. I remember I had no doubt I could be healed through spiritual means alone.

The practitioner helped me see my wholeness as a child of God. I prayed vehemently to understand my connection with God, whom I had come to understand as infinite good, and to see that His loving care for me did not include any sickness or any other burden. The Bible verse "In him [God] we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28) was extremely helpful to me. I drew comfort from knowing that I was constantly breathing the inspirations of divine Love. Peace and calm came to me after that, and I knew that God was in control of my life—leading and directing my every breath.

Within a short time, I was fully recovered. At my husband's request, we visited the doctor who had diagnosed my condition. He stated that he had never seen such a remarkable recovery and attributed it to my prayers and the treatment of the Christian Science practitioner.

More recently, I had quite an ugly growth on my arm. I prayed about this condition off and on for many months, but then it got more noticeable so that people remarked about it. Finally, I called on a Christian Science practitioner to support my prayers. She based her prayer on the fact that God had made me perfect, and she encouraged me to see how God had given me a spiritual identity—fresh, fearless, and free, as well as pure, innocent, and spotless. To understand this pure, spiritual nature better, I prayed with this Bible verse from Genesis: "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good" (Gen. 1:31). I also found inspiration in words of a hymn from the Christian Science Hymnal:

I realized that if God—Love—made me perfect, He could not have made this growth. Therefore it had to be a lie about me. Was I to believe a lie? No. The practitioner was very firm in holding to this truth of my perfect being, and so was I.

As I refused to be intimidated by any appearance of evil on my arm, all fear left me. Within just a few days, the growth slowly shrank and totally disappeared. My skin was as clear as it had been before, and there was no sign there had ever been a problem.

I am especially grateful that my dear grandmother took me to a Christian Science Sunday School when I was a very young child. She encouraged me to study and practice this healing religion of love—the Science of Christ.

Vonne Anne Heninger
Walnut Creek, California