Author: annalisakronman

After arriving at a large airport terminal where I was to meet my sister I gathered my luggage. One piece had been set aside as it must have arrived on an earlier flight. Finally getting all together I looked for my sister arriving on another flight. Not seeing her I called her on my cell phone. Shortly we happily met and went to another level of the airport for lunch. As I reached for my bag that contained my money, credit cards, driver’s license, ID, jewelry, in fact everything except my cell phone, it was gone. I mentally retraced my steps and then physically retraced my steps asking the woman at the luggage center and she assured me I had had the bag when talking to her. I talked to the Customer Service desk, Lost and Found and airlines desk I was greeted with lots of negative suggestions. One woman said, “Oh, purse snatchers!” I remembered asking directions from various people. Could they have surreptiously taken my bag? I began looking with suspicion on everyone I passed. There were three floors in this airport terminal and many people. Fear really crept in as the wedding that weekend that we had all looked forward to would certainly be soured for me and others as I would have to bother with closing accounts, borrowing money, and filing paperwork on lost items and sadness at losing some very precious (to me) jewelry.

Then I woke up! I declared there were no dishonest people in the entire airport. That Love was guiding me to do the right thing. That God was right with us. My sister and I prayed. She had some wonderful citations (helpful passages from the Bible and Science and Health, by Mrs. Eddy) with her and we prayed together. Having my cell phone I called a Christian Science practitioner and left a message for help. I then remembered putting down all the bags to make the earlier cell phone call. This new idea sent me back down two levels and as I went I heard my name called over the public address system. It had been over an hour since I had left that area. As I approached the Customer Service center, tears beginning to well in my eves, I saw a police officer was looking through my bag. He asked for some ID, which I of course did not have. He asked if everything was in the bag and I found everything intact. With a smile he said, “This is way I like to see these problem resolved.” With joy I left another message for the practitioner with my happy news that all was well. No more did I look with suspicion, but with love and appreciation for everyone I passed. What a wonderful beginning that was for a joyous weekend! I thank God for His goodness in opening my eyes.

B.F.

I would like to tell about a healing that both my daughter and I had recently. My daughter is three and full of wonder. We were just returning from a day in the field attempting to capture an endangered snake. About half way home we hit some traffic on the freeway in San Francisco and my daughter vomited all over herself and the back seat of our rental car. After a moment my thought was calm enough to find a shoulder large enough to pull out of traffic and try to clean up as much of the mess as possible and make my daughter more comfortable.

Once I was back in the car driving a flood of awful thoughts came to me. They started with, “What happened, is this the flu, did she eat something that made her ill?” And to throw in a little parental guilt, “What did I give her to eat and was it fresh?”

Immediately on the heels of these thoughts came the Christ message. “Nothing happened to God’s sweet, perfect idea. She is entirely spiritual, a reflection of God. There is no power that can change that fact. God is omnipotent good, the only power.” Meanwhile my daughter went back to sleep and the Christ message continued: “There is no cause or source outside of God, so the only thing that she can have is infinite, eternal good. You can’t have done anything wrong because you are God’s reflection too and your motives are pure, intending only good for your daughter.” At that point I just firmly declared my daughter’s identity as God’s entirely spiritual child. And I knew this was effective prayer. I felt satisfied that because Truth was the source of my declaration, suggestions to the contrary had no substance or foundation to sustain them. With that I let go of the fear for my daughter’s well being. However, aggressive mental suggestions continued to badger me, trying to sneak in and claim to be my own thought. The whole rest of the way home I had the most fun bringing every thought into conformity to the Christ. The suggestions that came to me about possible cause or source became almost laughable. They were just impotent in the face of the Truth shining in my consciousness.

When we got home my daughter woke up, got out of the car, vomited once more on the sidewalk and was done with it. I gave her a bath and by the end of it she was playing like nothing had ever happened.

What an exhilarating experience this was for me! To feel God’s presence so effective and constant was marvelous and I wish I had words to convey my gratitude to God for this experience. I guess my greatest expression of gratitude would be to continue being conscious of the Truth and witnessing every thought being brought into conformity with the Christ, following with not just words, but deeds. I am also grateful to every practitioner I have ever spoken with, for every Sentinel, Journal, and Sentinel Radio article or conversation I have read or heard, for all of Mrs. Eddy’s writings, and for the Bible. I feel like what I am learning from all of these sources has led me to an understanding that allowed this healing experience.

W.D.

I shall always remember a quick healing I experienced several years ago, because it showed me so vividly the true nature of a miserable sickness that otherwise seemed very real.

I was working at the time as a Christian Science nurse in a care facility for Christian Scientists, and I was on the night shift. I started feeling quite ill in the wee hours of the morning, running to the bathroom to either throw up or quickly sit. I didn’t see how I would be able to finish my shift, as we were about to start our morning cares for early risers, and I didn’t think anyone else would be able to replace me at that early hour.

I decided to do something I had read about in Science and Health, page 261:

“Look away from the body into Truth and Love, the Principle of all happiness, harmony, and immortality. Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.”

This instruction goes along with another gem I remembered Mrs. Eddy wrote in First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, page 210:

“Beloved Christian Scientists, keep your minds so filled with Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and death cannot enter them. It is plain that nothing can be added to the mind already full. There is no door through which evil can enter and no space for evil to fill in a mind filled with goodness. Good thoughts are an impervious armor; clad therewith you are completely shielded from the attacks of error of every sort.  And not only yourselves are safe, but all whom your thoughts rest upon are thereby benefited.”

So, following those instructions to the best of my ability, I decided I would go forward a step at a time, filling my thought with every God-centered idea I knew, and refusing to entertain anything else. I sang hymns out loud, said the Lord’s Prayer out loud, declared the Scientific Statement of Being (S&H, pg 468), and any other spiritual truth that came.  The effect of this mental insistence was amazing to me.  I was hoping I guess for an abatement of the symptoms until I could get finished and go home to bed, but instead, the entire miserable feeling of being nauseous, achy, and not myself melted like a fog being lifted by irresistible sunshine.  The symptoms weren’t just ameliorated; they evaporated!  I was thrilled to see that by insisting on the God-given fact of my uninvadable being, I was completely freed from wretchedness.  I completed my shift with joy, strength, and vigor, and went home in peace.

I am so grateful that this illustrates a principle that is available to all.  God (Love) made each one of us, and Love keeps us.  There is divine authority in knowing that.

ALK

I just finished 6th grade, and one of my favorite things to do is track and field. I love running and especially high jump. I practice almost everyday with my team. But my foot had been hurting one day after practice. It wasn’t a particularly bad injury, but it hurt on the ball of my foot which is the main point of pressure.

My first thought was to be worried and afraid because that weekend was the qualifying meet for the Junior Olympics. But right after that thought came into my head, I pushed it right out. I knew bad ideas would get me nowhere. I had to focus on angel thoughts. I remembered one of the first and simplest things that I had learned in Sunday School, “I am the image and likeness of God,” which means I am a perfect child of God because I reflect His qualities. I get my unlimited supply of strength from Him, and nothing can change that. And as it says in I John: 4: 18, ‘There is no fear in Love; but perfect love casteth out fear.’ I knew that I loved track, so it definitely could not cause pain. So, that weekend when I went to compete, I didn’t feel any soreness or pain at all.

Editor’s Note: Amy did qualify for the upcoming Junior Olympics and will be competing with girls her age in the high jump and pentathlon. Yay!

A.H.

Recently, when I walked out to my garbage area, it was quite windy. As I was closing the door to this enclosure, a sudden a gust of wind caused the heavy door to hit my foot with great force. It was very painful.

I turned immediately to God in prayer, and what came to me was the Scientific Statement of Being (found in Science and Health, page 468.) It reads:

“Question.–What is the scientific statement of being?
Answer.–There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual.”

I affirmed each line as the truth of my being, and I knew it was the present truth, in spite of appearances. I struggled back to my condo and up seven steps with great difficulty. The foot started to swell. When I got inside, I couldn’t walk further, so I crawled on the floor. My cat knew something was wrong because he had never seen me crawling in his territory before. He was very comforting and licked my face.

I opened Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy to page 468 and pondered the three great questions asked on that page:
What is the scientific statement of being?
What is substance?
What is Life?
[Here is a link to that page, so you also can read how Mrs. Eddy answers those questions.]

I affirmed each statement: Since there is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter, then I am not made of matter, and therefore cannot have a broken or hurting matter-foot. Spirit is what defines my genuine being. I am spiritual, right now. I declared that this is the truth, and believed it with all my heart.

By the time I went to bed, I no longer was eye-to-eye with the cat on the ground. I could walk a bit and was able to put some weight on the foot. I had a restful night’s sleep, and in the morning, I was able to walk normally and without pain. It was as if the injury had never happened, and in God’s sight, it never did.

I am so grateful for Christian Science! It can meet any need, any time, anywhere.
Thank you, God!

B.V.V.

We were really looking forward to our trip to Africa. It would be our third trip, and we were really looking forward to it. But as the time was getting closer and closer, I was having a problem with an incessant cough. It was quite constant during the daytime but fortunately I could sleep at night. I was having help from a Christian Science practitioner to solve the problem but it was being very stubborn. My husband, who is not a Christian Scientist, got me a variety of medicines and I even tried those, but nothing seemed to change. My prayer was to understand that since God is All and God is good, this cough was not true in the infinitude of God’s goodness.

We were scheduled to leave on Saturday, and on Monday night I went to a Christian Science lecture. The speaker shared many helpful ideas, but one story really stood out to me. She told about a brash young reporter who decided that he wanted to interview Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science. Mrs. Eddy was in her late eighties and there were stories circulating that she was not mentally alert. When he called on her, he said, “Tell me what this cult Christian Science is.” Mrs. Eddy’s response was, “Christian Science is the absolute acknowledgement of the ever presence of infinite perfection.” When he heard that statement and felt the conviction in this woman’s voice, he quietly left and asked no more questions. Some time later, he was in the military and was wounded. He remembered Mrs. Eddy’s statement and he repeated it to himself. He found himself instantly healed of his wounds. (Church records in Boston authenticated this information.)

That statement really spoke to me. I wrote it down and repeated it many times to feel the power of its truth. In the morning my husband said, “You’re not coughing!” That was absolutely the end of it. I never had any reoccurrence on the trip, which was wonderful, and I was so grateful to feel God’s power and presence that healed a very stubborn problem.

BW

I’d like to share an experience that proved to me without a doubt that God’s law heals, even in dire circumstances.

When my husband and I were expecting our first child, we went to a local doctor for prenatal care. He took a blood test and came back with the news that I had Rh-negative blood. He said this would not be a problem for this present child, but would, after childbirth, cause harmful antibodies to form that would attack the blood of any subsequent children, causing them to be weak, still-born, or needing a total blood transfusion upon arrival. But, he said, I was fortunate that in recent years, medical research had figured out how to avert this disaster by administering a particular drug to the mother within twenty-four hours after childbirth. He warned that without this, we should count on only one child.

These black predictions were extremely alarming to me. We were preparing for the arrival of this child, the first of four, we hoped, with the spiritual support of a Christian Science practitioner. She prayed for me, and I prayed with a depth of need I had rarely faced before. I realized that nobody would blame me for taking this drug if I felt that were best–and I realized that perhaps most expectant moms would gladly run in that direction. However, being a life-long student of Christian Science and having witnessed many times its healing power, I was more inclined to turn to God to heal this condition rather than to drugs. I mentally protested against the proposition that a mix of chemicals had more power to protect life than God, who is Life itself. I vigorously claimed God’s allness, omnipotence, and infinite capacity to maintain of His creation. By the time our son was born, we had moved, and the doctor who first alerted us to this condition was not on the case. I felt a sufficient certainty that I could trust God on this that I did not take the drug. The midwife who helped us with the birth was not aware of the situation, and the birth was a normal one.

My husband and I continued our prayer. When we found ourselves expecting again about a year later, I knew I needed to focus single-mindedly on the spiritual facts about this second child and me. Daily I strove to see more clearly that God is the sole Creator, and that He/She lovingly cares for all He/She creates. In God’s eyes, I was not the source of that child’s life, and I therefore could not be its destroyer. God already knew and loved this precious little one, and I strove to understand this more clearly. God’s law of love overruled any supposed law or action of malicious antibodies. We were grateful for the continued support of the Christian Science practitioner.

I was praying much, but I was sometimes so beset by fears that I couldn’t tell if my prayers were being effective. About two months before our second child was to arrive, the message at a Wednesday evening testimony meeting spoke directly to me. The Biblical account from John 4: 46-53 was read, in which a desperate dad pleads with Jesus to heal his son, who is at the point of death. Jesus says, Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. The dad renews his request for help, and Jesus says, Go thy way; thy son liveth, and the dad goes home. He is met with the wonderful news that his son is fully well.

I realized this seemed my situation exactly. The dad at Jesus’ feet had to believe, trust Jesus’ words without seeing, and go his way. I also could trust what the Christ had been telling me for the past year and a half without having it confirmed physically. It felt like the Christ was right there saying to me, It’s going to be all right, because it is already all right! The fear lifted.

Very shortly after this we made arrangements with a doctor to assist us with a home birth. We requested no blood tests, and he was willing to honor our request.  He was not aware of my blood type.  Our daughter Rachel arrived safely, sound, and whole. There was no vestige of any blood problems, and the doctor pronounced her in perfect health. Again, I chose not to take the drug after this birth, choosing to continue God-reliance.

A year and a half later, this decision to stick with God’s view and authority was blessed in the healthy arrival or our third child. When our fourth was on its way, we arranged with a midwife in the area to help us, as the doctor who helped with the middle two children had moved. She asked me directly if I had Rh-negative blood, and I replied yes. She took a blood test, and it confirmed that although I had this blood type, the predicted pernicious antibodies had never formed after any of the three births. The fourth child arrived safely and in excellent health.

This experience of learning to trust God to fully sustain and care for His children has been a beacon to our family throughout their growing years. It has been a solid rock of conviction that God’s care is the safest and surest in any circumstance, and we as a family saw this borne out repeatedly in quick healings of many problems, including illness, burns, and broken foot bones. I thank God for His goodness and tender loving care, and offer this experience in hope that it will help someone else.

A.L.K.