Christian Science in Orinda, California

This past Tuesday evening I got up off the couch after watching a couple of TV programs,  and discovered that I couldn’t lift my upper right arm without shooting pain.  I tried moving my arm in different ways and continued to feel either an almost total lack of strength or acute discomfort.  Almost immediately I started to worry about what had caused this,  and also what effect this would have on future activities,  from a tennis match the coming weekend to an overseas fly-fishing trip scheduled for early November.  I wrestled with both the pain and the worry throughout the night.

On Wednesday morning I told my wife that I was having the difficulty, because it was clear that I was favoring my right side.  She asked me to try to raise my arm (I couldn’t, without pain) and turn my wrist and hand to the left, as if I were pouring tea.  I couldn’t do that either, without pain.  My wife told me that the symptoms were just like a condition that she had previously experienced, called “frozen shoulder”,  a condition which had required several months of physical therapy to achieve a return to freedom of motion.

I was determined to deal with the issue by turning to prayer.  I had experienced a healing, through prayer alone, of a similar condition about 5 years before, although it took a number of months to regain freedom of motion.

Later that morning I started to read an issue of the Christian Science Journal.  There was an article* that seemed to address my situation beautifully.  The article used the Biblical story of David and Goliath as a metaphor for conquering the fear of illness (or any other condition posed by mortal mind).  It talked about each of David’s five smooth stones as representing a counter-thought to the challenges of fear and mortal thinking.  Here was some great ammunition for dealing with this physical challenge!  There was another article that talked about the perfection of my spiritual identity that provided additional support for my thinking.

I like to think of God as the power that created the universe—a creation that I find easy to conceive of as unimaginably vast, and the power to create it as infinitely strong.  Coupled with that power are qualities that give meaning to all life:  Love, and Truth, or Justice.  This always builds my confidence that whatever my material condition may appear to be, not only is it unreal and temporal, but as God’s reflection I possess the infinite power to reduce any such false claim to its native nothingness.

I realized that I needed to clearly and consistently establish this understanding of divine power in my consciousness.  I had to be “on patrol” to guard against negative suggestions that kept floating into my thoughts—that the shoulder condition could impede right activity—that a healing could take a long time—etc.  I’ve always found that reminding myself “What is God thinking here?” and continually asking “Is this God’s thought?” tends to keep me on the right track.  So over the next two days I really concentrated on being the metaphorical porter at the door of my thought –a modern day “thought bouncer” whenever negative suggestions seemed to come to mind.

The very next day, Thursday, the shoulder seemed to have improved markedly, and by Friday I was able to resume my full range of normal activities without any evidence of stiffness or pain or inhibited movement.  The change was so quick, and so complete,  that I was truly overwhelmed,  not only with relief and gratitude,   but with a profound appreciation for the incredible power of prayer to God to heal.

*“Inevitable Health”,  Julie Ward,  Christian Science Journal, November 2009
The first stone was the idea that “Disease has no scary name—its only name is nothing”.  The second was “Disease has no place—it’s never on the body, but is merely a suggestion of mortal mind”.

JS

I suppose a trip down the relatively un-traveled canyon of Yosemite, Tanaya Canyon, had been a goal of mine for several years, mainly because of what I’d heard about the spectacular views of the great Half Dome down the gorge. But once I was there, hiking—or should I say boulder-hopping and climbing–with my proficient son and five other (novice) climbers, I realized that I might be in over my head. Rappelling down rock walls with fully loaded backpacks, sometimes into waterfalls and cold pools, precarious rock-hopping across the tumbling, roaring creek, and traversing steep granite slabs, struggling to find very ill-defined trails in the dark, together with a foot injury problem that had been plaguing me for several years, all created a situation in which I had nowhere to turn except to my understanding of God’s protecting, preserving, and comforting presence with me at all times.

As good as my intentions were, however, fear and concern still hovered around me. It was once written that “worry is the lowest form of thought” or that fear and worry claim to be necessary, but actually have no useful purpose at all. And my favorite definition of worry—“Ingratitude in advance.”

Well, I must admit, I was worried and fearful, both for my own well-being and for the safety of our little group. That week, the Christian Science Bible lesson had been on the subject of Truth, another word for God, and many of the references were centered on taking the “right path” or walking the straight and narrow without straying off-course from the truth of God’s ever-presence and His guiding Hand. This was exactly what I needed, as I struggled to hold my thought in sync with Truth. I must say, however, that more times than I care to admit, I allowed my thought to stray. and intrusive fear-mongering thoughts would flood in. I found myself complaining about precarious situations or expressing my doubts about which way we were choosing to go as we worked our way over boulders and down the gorge. (It was only later, after the trip, that I learned that every year several hikers perish, trying to negotiate this canyon without proper understanding of its perils).

After several false stops and starts at adjusting my thought, I prayed along the lines of trusting that our real “team leader” was divine Mind, giving us the insight and wisdom to take the correct ways, make the right moves, and use the right precautions as we made our way down the canyon. And I must say, it wasn’t as much I, but both of my sons (my other son was along as well), who rose to the occasion with a calming presence, assuring us all that we could all accomplish this task successfully, without any incidence of injury or danger. And on several occasions my climbing-proficient son made some unusual directional decisions for the group that were crucial to bringing us down the gorge successfully and fully intact. We completed the hike, fully trail-tested, but safe and grateful.

It has been said that the secret to life’s peace and happiness has nothing to do with what happens to you or what situations you find yourself in, but has everything to do with how you respond. And every day we can each strive to do a better job of responding to every situation in daily life with a renewed awakening to God’s, Love’s, ever-protecting and guiding presence. This way, our lives are no longer made up of outward situations that the human mind wants to label as “good” or “bad”, but rather a deep inner assurance that brings our peace into the situation and results only in a further awakening to God’s love.

S.V.

Recently, during a stay at our cabin in the Sierra, I was stacking firewood outside and heard a loud bang.  Looking around to where the sound had come from, I noticed a bird had evidently smacked into one of the cabin windows.  It lay motionless and I exclaimed out loud “Oh No!”

Saying this reminded me of an article that I had read many years ago in the Christian Science Sentinel entitled “Don’t Go Down to the Plain of Oh No”.  The author recalled that in the Bible story of Nehemiah, who is in charge of the work to restore the broken down walls surrounding Jerusalem, that an enemy continually asks him to come down to the plane of Ono to talk.  Nehemiah recognizes that this was a ruse to stop the important work and wisely declines saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you? “  This play on words reminded me that I too had important work to do (pray) and declined to go down to the plain of Oh No!

Jesus says in the book of Matthew “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered”.  I reasoned that God must also have all the feathers counted on this little bird too.  I silently vowed to witness in my thinking the unending fact of God’s care for this small but precious idea of His. I refused to allow even a look at the bird, feeling that it would distract me from the work of seeing this bird as God had made and maintained it.

I continued to pray with thoughts that came to me and even stacked a few more pieces of wood, feeling more and more confident that God was the source of this bird’s being.  I did happen to look at some point and noticed that the little guy was now standing upright and moving his head.  Rejoicing in this outward expression of the facts that I was witnessing in my thinking, I looked away again to affirm in my thought that no after effects or side effects could result from God’s constant, seamless care of his creation, which included this bird.  Soon, heading into the cabin, I saw that the bird was no longer there!

L.R.R.

Swimming is an activity I enjoy a great deal.  However, the first time I went swimming this spring, one of my ears stopped up.  This had never happened before, but I didn’t think much about it and assumed it would soon correct itself.  However, for several weeks as I continued to swim the ear continued to be stopped up.  At that point I realized I needed to pray about it.  I affirmed that every function of my body is governed by the one divine Mind, which is God, and thus performs normally and harmoniously.  The principle of God’s harmonious universe provides that an activity that expresses God, such as swimming, can’t result in harm or an abnormal condition.

However, several weeks passed, the ear didn’t clear, and I noticed that a numbness was creeping into my cheek.  At that point several fear-filled questions flooded my consciousness:  What is this?  Why doesn’t it go away?  Will it affect my hearing?

I dealt with these fears by more diligently turning to what I’ve learned about God’s all-good government.  The first chapter of Genesis states that man is made in the image and likeness of God, thus is spiritual and perfect.  Since God is constant, unchanging goodness, I reasoned that I must also be all good, and couldn’t lose that perfection (even if it appeared to be so).  My true spiritual substance as an idea of God could not be affected by any material condition or circumstance, and consistently acknowledging this brought it out in my experience.

As I continued to affirm the truth (as God sees it) about my identity and deny any abnormal condition, my fears left, the ear cleared and did not get stopped up again.   I continue to swim with joy and gratitude!

NH

I have found that Christian Science heals animals as readily as it does people.

Years ago, my elderly cat became quite ill. After praying for some time, and seeing little visible result, I reluctantly took the cat to the vet. He took an X-ray and concluded that something was wrong with her kidneys. He told me that the best thing I could do was to keep the cat well hydrated and gave me some equipment to help do that. I brought the cat home.

After a few days of trying the water treatment, there seemed to be little beneficial effect, so I discontinued it. I decided to redouble my efforts to find a solution through prayer, and asked someone else to pray with me. This prayer led me to see my cat more as a God-created idea than I had considered before. I reasoned that cats express grace, balance, delicacy, and intelligence. Like all of God’s creations, they must be immortal and indestructible, since God cannot create anything unlike himself. Consistent attention to these kinds of thoughts made a huge difference in my outlook, and in my cat’s health. She recovered, and lived at least another year with no recurrence of the problem.

I am very grateful.

CHK

I have occasionally been faced with the symptoms of migraine headache, and turned to spiritual truths for usually quick healings. Last year, however, I felt the symptoms rising during the afternoon but didn’t take the time to turn to God and His perspective of my perfect wholeness as His child. My husband and I were to attend the ballet in a nearby city and I insisted on going, praying half-heartedly on the way. But during the first half of the performance, I had to leave my seat, and at intermission told my husband I couldn’t continue. We left to take the hour-long subway ride home. Once in the train station, deep under the city, I felt even worse — unable to stand upright and nearly overcome with nausea, aching head and bowel discomfort. I dreaded the confinement of the train ride ahead. In desperation, I called my Christian Science teacher by cell phone, even though it was after midnight in her time zone. I was only able to say I was very ill in a subway station and need help. She immediately reminded me firmly that I was never separated from God and His care, right there and right now. All I could do was listen, but I felt somewhat better as she continued to talk. She agreed to continue prayerful support for me. So I hung up the call and we boarded the train. The ride felt interminable (including some unexpected delays). I kept my eyes closed and my thoughts focused on every truth about God and His creation (me) that I could think of. And a steady stream of inspiration did come. By the time we arrived at our home station, I was much better. And within the first few minutes of the car ride home, it was suddenly as if a weight was lifted off my head, and I was completely free of every symptom. I happily told my very-worried husband and he was much relieved — and I very extremely grateful to God and for the instant, loving support of my teacher.

C.O.

The sun has often been used as a symbol of God’s presence and power, both in the Bible and in Mrs. Eddy’s writings. I had an experience about 20 years ago that brought that symbol vividly to life for me. For some weeks, I’d been experiencing unexplained pains in my body, especially the breasts, upper and underarms. And I had found a lump in one breast. The media is so full of information about cancer and its symptoms, that we take it in unwittingly. I became very fearful that these physical signs meant cancer in the breast and/or lymph glands. As a lifelong Christian Scientist, I prayed about this situation as I’d been taught (and had proven many times) and had the prayerful support of a Christian Science practitioner to help me see my true reality as a spiritual child of God, untouched by disease — to see myself as God sees me. But the fear was great.

One night I felt the need to stay up studying my Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s writings to gain a sense of peace. I was in the guest room with east-facing glass doors. I dozed and woke during the night of study, still experiencing pain and renewed fear. Then toward dawn, as light was starting to fill the sky outside the room, I thought of the image of God as the life-giving, all-encompassing “sun” of my being. And as the light increased, I was suddenly struck with the absolute inevitability of that sunrise — nothing could stop that sun from coming up and filling my world with light, just as nothing could stop God’s presence and all-power from maintaining me as He created me: “pure, upright, whole and free” as it says in one of our hymns. That was the turning point: the fear was gone and within a few days, all the symptoms were gone, along with the lump. The peace and inspiration of that dawn time is described beautifully in #317 in the Christian Science Hymnal. One verse reads: “So shall it ever be in the bright morning, when hearts awaking see the shadows flee. O, in that hour, and fairer than the dawning, rises the glorious thought, I am with Thee.”

C. O.