I walked out of church completely healed
/I had a nice healing in church a month or so ago. For several days, I had been struggling with an increasing sense of fear and discomfort in my throat – it was uncomfortable and distracting. I had been working with a practitioner, but the claim didn’t seem to yield.
At church I gave a testimony about something else, and on the way home I chatted with a neighbor that I saw on the subway – even though my first inclination was to read and keep to myself. When I got home, I realized that I was healed, and I felt that “Love is the liberator” (Science and Health 225:21). I was so filled with joy!
A week later on Wednesday afternoon, however, the claim of an uncomfortable throat seemed to aggressively return. I prayed to know that there is “never a return to positions outgrown” (Science and Health 74:30).
Before church, I searched the word “throat” on JSH-Online and read an account of how Mrs. Eddy instructed a worker to be specific and precise in his argument against a claim of inharmony (We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Vol. II, p. 430-431). I also read two great testimonies that helped break the mesmerism of fear and gave me confidence that the claim of discomfort could be healed through Christian Science treatment: “A message ‘made for me’” (Sentinel, January 28, 2013) and “Throat issue healed” (Sentinel, November 5, 2012).
The Christian Science practitioner I was working with shared these two passages with me:
“Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion” (Isa. 52:12).
“In different ages the divine idea assumes different forms, according to humanity’s needs. In this age it assumes, more intelligently than ever before, the form of Christian healing. This is the babe we are to cherish. This is the babe that twines its loving arms about the neck of omnipotence, and calls forth infinite care from His loving heart” (Miscellaneous Writings 370:12).
That evening I went into church affirming that it was a healing meeting and that I could expect healing – for everyone! The readings were on joy, and the hymns were very joyful. I started to feel a sense of joy during the meeting, even though the claim of discomfort hadn’t dissolved. I kept affirming that the truths at this meeting heal, and thought of how everyone attending—both in person and online – was bringing to it “the consciousness thus prepared,” a state of thought that a writer describes Mrs. Eddy longing for at church services (“Healing the Multitudes,” Sentinel, July 1, 1916).
I found a helpful, healing thought in each testimony. One of those thoughts was, “We’re not redecorating but moving out” (i.e., we are not fixing up matter but rather leaving a sense of material living for the life that is Spirit; laying off a sense of life in matter for the reality that we are spiritual). I felt very joyful.
After church, I chatted with some visitors, and the First Reader shared how he had been healed of a claim of food poisoning when his sister said, “That’s just animal magnetism.” Such a simple statement, but so true and healing! During the meeting and afterward, I was filled with such gratitude for church – how it is so helpful to have a place to be with others who are studying and practicing Christian Science, and how important it is for us to be there for those looking for healing. I walked out of church completely healed, and that claim has not returned!
In looking back at my notebook with healings in it, I see at the top of this healing I have written: “Refuse to assess from mortal mind’s standpoint” – AWP. I’m not sure if that quote is from Skip’s writings or from a conversation with him, but that thought played an important role in this healing. I am so very grateful for this healing, which demonstrated to me the power and presence of God, divine Love, the value and joy of church, and the preciousness and effectiveness of Christian Science.