H.B.

As the day wore on, the use of the knee progressively improved and the pain lessened.  Whenever I was aware of any discomfort, I reaffirmed the facts of spiritual Truth I had turned to that morning.  I realized that God’s perfection is invariable and so is mine.  The following morning when I awoke and prepared for another extensive hike, the knee was completely restored to its normal functioning, with no discomfort at all and continues that way.

I am deeply grateful for Christian Science which gives us the spiritual understanding of our true identity as the child of God, reflecting all of His qualities.  I am grateful for this quick healing and for a fuller realization of my oneness with God.

N.H.

During a recent road biking excursion I made a swift and unexpected dismount onto the pavement at the start of a climb.  As I was lying in the road trying to piece together what had just happened I looked over at my arm and noticed a bone in my arm looking alarmingly out of place. Instead of praying immediately, I let the physical situation take hold of my thought—I was experiencing really forceful resistance to prayer which was completely contrary to my usual response of, “It matters how I think right now.”  In a few minutes I was helped off the road and able to lie on the pavement in the sun.  My fellow riders included three family members who also actively practice Christian Science, and for them I couldn’t be more grateful.  As I struggled with resistance, these three people purposefully and vocally reminded me that I was in fact perfectly whole and able to claim dominion over the physical situation.  Their conviction to see me as spiritually pure melted my resistance in a matter of moments.

The second I began to identify more with a spiritually whole vision of myself, rather than a fallen, injured physical person, the transformation from bone out of place and a great amount of physical pain to feeling perfectly normal was very quick.  My brother, who was sitting with me and praying as I lay on the side of the road was himself impressed with the way improved thought and a willingness to simply be present with God directly corresponded to a restoration of my arm.  The healing was in fact so swift, that I had a hard time trusting the results at first.  In response to this tentative thinking, my brother and I worked with this idea from Mary Baker Eddy, “Whosoever understands the power of Spirit, has no doubt of God’s power, —even the might of Truth, —to heal, through divine Science, beyond all human means and methods” Miscellaneous Writings 52:7.

Half an hour later I was playing with my two-year-old niece whom I instinctively reached out to and picked up in my arms when she called my name and ran to me.  I experienced no pain from this simple act of love.  A week later I participated in a 100K bike race on the exact same road where the bike accident had happened a week before.  I was able ride free of pain or apprehension both physically and mentally.

I pursue a lot of outdoor sports, from cycling and distance running to rock climbing and river running.  Without a doubt, these experiences have been the most significant for me as a student of Christian Science.  It’s in those moments of physical duress that I have come to know and understand my spiritual identity as the more accurate and complete description of me.  I am so grateful for the insight that prayer gives us into life, making each opportunity to pray not just physically but mentally and spiritually transformative.

L.T.

A few days later, I began to experience an annoying pain in my right arm.  Since I was on vacation at a tennis resort and had several matches scheduled, I started thinking, “Oh no, maybe I won’t be able to play; maybe if I stretched, or soaked in a hot tub or applied ice packs or something, I’d get through the next few matches.”  But right at that moment my thought returned to the above reference.  I wanted to leave matter completely out of the picture!  I turned to an article in the December 2010 Christian Science Journal entitled “Petition- an Important Element of Prayer” and started a prayer of petition.  I asked God to just rid my thinking of all these matter-based suggestions of methods to deal with a painful arm.  I pleaded for a purely spiritual recognition of my perfection at that very moment.

Soon the pain was gone.  I played tennis every day for the next ten days with no ill effects.  I was grateful for two reasons:  I wanted to realize the blessing of “leaving matter out of the picture”… and I wanted to enjoy the rest of my vacation!

H.F.

C.O.

These ideas were ringing in my thought when I inadvertently tried to run through a glass door on my way to a tennis match.  After bounding back from the blow to my nose and forehead, and after a few confused thoughts, I regained my sense of “repentance”—changing my thinking—and re-established the “kingdom of heaven at hand”, refusing to accept that this kingdom included injury.  I began the match, but in a couple of games I began to feel neck pain.  My first thought was, “Aren’t you glad you refused to accept the idea of injury in God’s kingdom!”  Within minutes all sensation of discomfort or evidence of injury was gone.  I was very grateful.

H. C.

Many times in my life, God’s loving care, direction, and supply have been made apparent in very practical ways. In one short week I was to fly to Denmark to visit with my daughter who was in a school program there. We had already made plans for an active seven-day bicycle trip around that country during her break. You might say I was very motivated to again witness God’s goodness, and fast!

Here are some of the ideas that came to me:
Healing as Jesus healed is demonstrable today, and he expected us to follow his example:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:12-14)

“And these signs shall follow them that believe”…(Mark 16:17)

Jesus was never impressed by sin or overwhelmed by suffering:

“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him… And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.” (John 9:1-3,7)

My “problem” was an opportunity to be closer to God:

Rouse ye, rouse ye, face the foe,
Rise to conquer death and sin;
On with Christ to victory go,
O side with God, and win!
(Christian Science Hymnal #296)

Upon removing my shoe, the foot had already started to swell and was turning colors but I knew healing progress was occurring because I felt calm and expectant of good, and although very painful at first, it was now much less so and soon not at all.

In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures on pg. 424,* Mary Baker Eddy states from experience that

“Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God’s unerring direction and thus bring out harmony.”

And on pg. 397,

“When an accident happens, you think or exclaim, “I am hurt!” Your thought is more powerful than your words, more powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury real. Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt and understand the reason why, and you will find the ensuing good effects to be in exact proportion to your disbelief in physics, and your fidelity to divine metaphysics, confidence in God as All, which the Scriptures declare Him to be.”

I continued to listen for “angel” ideas that affirmed God’s all-goodness and worked to shut out any arguments to the contrary. In less than three days my foot was normal in size, almost back to a natural color and I had complete mobility. Consequently I had a lovely bicycle adventure in Denmark, all the sweeter knowing that God’s loving care was my only “rock”!

*To read this quote in context, or more of Science and Health, click here.

LRR

These truths helped me get back on the right track of thought.  The next morning the pain in my toe had lessened greatly, and I was back to running the following day.  I was able to run unhampered, and set a Personal Best record that meet.  I’m extremely grateful for this healing and I’m also glad that I’m back to expressing God through running!

A.H.