“Trials are proofs of God’s care” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health, p. 66).

How grateful we can be that Mary Baker Eddy used the word trials and not troubles in that sentence! Her choice of the word trial gives us an immediate starting point for prayer, because it brings with it the concepts of innocence and justice. Eddy is clearly not promoting the idea that God likes to show His care for us by punishing us. Instead, to an innocent person, a trial is the legal opportunity to prove his or her innocence.

Legal references are plentiful in Eddy’s writings, drawn from personal experience. Aside from what she learned about law as a girl from her brother Albert (a successful lawyer, member of the New Hampshire state legislature, and colleague of Franklin Pierce, who later became president of the United States), she learned firsthand by working through more than one lawsuit filed by disgruntled former students. When I come across a legal term in her works, I find it helpful to pause and think deeply about its meaning.

Two healings I had recently stem from a growing understanding of some legal references in Eddy’s principal work, Science and Health. They were good opportunities to prove my innocence as the child of God.

“Never plead guilty”

Flu symptoms seemed to be gathering fast in my body. The temptation to just go to sleep was powerful, but the desire to feel God’s comforting presence was even greater. I called a Christian Science practitioner for prayerful help. Immediately after the call, the instruction, “Never plead guilty!” came to mind. I recognized it as part of this sentence from Science and Health: “When the body is supposed to say, ‘I am sick,’ never plead guilty” (p. 391). The spiritual strength of that statement was palpable. I stayed awake for several hours praying, and although I woke frequently throughout the night, the healing energy of that simple phrase never left. The next day was filled with appointments related to the purchase of a new house—and I didn’t miss a single one. Nor would anyone I met with that day have found any evidence to convict me of having, or having had, the flu. I was completely free.

“Be just to yourself”

At another time, after too many nights in a row of leg pain and disrupted sleep, I was just plain tired. “Ugh, morning again,” I thought. Thankfully that day’s “Your Daily Lift”—a short podcast featuring inspiring ideas from Christian Science lecturers—contained a much better thought to start the day, including this verse from Psalms 139: “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (verse 14). The words “wonderfully made” immediately caught my attention, followed by another thought: “Be just to yourself.” This line comes from a statement in Science and Health: “Mortal mind alone sentences itself. Therefore make your own terms with sickness, and be just to yourself and to others” (p. 391).

In less time than it takes to write about it, the realization that everything God makes, including me, is wonderful, lit up my consciousness. Unjust, self-abusive thoughts like “You will never understand Christian Science well” and “Your practice is worthless” were replaced with an overwhelming enthusiasm to learn more about God’s wonderful works.

I pulled out a Bible concordance and spent the next couple of hours reading every reference to the words wonderful, wonderfully, and wondrous. I took the time to be specific about God’s wonderfulness by recalling many of the “wondrous” healings from the Bible and the Christian Science periodicals. I copied many of these verses into my journal for easy reference during the day. It was a morning for rejoicing in God’s goodness. “This,” I thought, “is being just to God, to myself and to others.” That night, I realized that the leg pains that had been disturbing my sleep were gone. They have not returned.

In the United States, as in many other countries, a trial by jury begins with the assumption that the accused is “innocent until proven guilty.” As we base our understanding of ourselves on the fact that man is the wholly innocent child of a just Father-Mother God, we have a strong case to defend ourselves against accusations of sickness or fear whenever the need arises. And we can be confident that the verdict will be, “Innocent!” We can draw on the biblical assurance, “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 15:57)—and Eddy reassures us, “Then, when thou art delivered to the judgment of Truth, Christ, the judge will say, ‘Thou art whole!’ ” (Science and Health, p. 391).