At Christmas time a few years ago, an area on my forehead became darkly discolored, and I began experiencing internal discomfort in my head. During this time, I wore a cap so that neither my family members nor I would be looking at the false evidence.

Throughout the course of this healing, I recorded prayers and quotations in my journal. Here is part of a prayer recorded on Christmas day: I am not, never was, and never can be diseased. The wholeness and soundness of infinite Spirit is perfectly expressed in me immutably forever. . . . The only thing that can grow in me or be manifest in my experience is spirituality – God-bestowed spirituality. My health is not in a position to be lost.

I contacted a Christian Science practitioner, who assured me, “Error can’t cling to you. What’s needed is more spiritual growth.” I noted in my journal: I have the opportunity this day and this week and this next year to follow the “guiding star of being,” the “daystar of divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony.”

I was off work until after New Year’s Day, and I found myself needing to work day and night against what felt like an aggressively threatening claim. Any indulgence of a mortal sense of things made me feel trapped in a corner, so the need was to rise above the false sense and lay full and consistent claim to God-bestowed consciousness. The work included the following: The Lord lifts up His countenance upon me, and as His mirror image, my countenance is spiritually whole, pure, reflecting the original. This passage from Isaiah came into clear focus: “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him” (Isa. 59:19).

At one point I was seeing and affirming that God does health. It is established in me perfectly, and I forever reflect it. On Dec. 29, I found myself affirming the following: I am now Mind-enabled to be conscious of the fact “that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual – neither in nor of matter” (Science and Health 14:12–14). This is the consciousness that heals. This means that of course there’s a way forward that involves victory over the illusion of disease. God and His creation, including me, are pure light and perfect love. The material senses and mortal mind get it wrong when it comes to the state of my being. Nothing they insist upon is connected to reality.

I was often up and working in the middle of the night. At 4:30 a.m. on Dec. 30, I recorded the following: On the subject of health – or any other subject, for that matter – the physical senses are consistently wrong. My health is now perfect, because it comes from Spirit, God, and is maintained by God….The belief constituting disease must yield to spiritual understanding and divine law. Now and always, I am the image of Love, not physique, the reflection of Spirit, perfectly whole. I seek to live this truth more consistently; to walk in the Christ way. Walk up and out of the dank, dark basement of mortal belief into the open, daylight newness and realness of spiritual being and freedom.

A bit of what I recorded at 5:00 a.m. on December 31 included this: Look mortal mind, you’ve got nothing! Give it up. Go home to your native nothingness. All the power of the actual universe of infinite creation resides in God. And I am His. And God says, “You are mine – my loved child.”

During this period, I was immensely grateful for the unwavering support of the practitioner who encouraged me to call at any hour. At 12:25 a.m. on January 1, I received this text from the practitioner: “Christ is your advocate and others’ histories and world beliefs hold no sway. You are free. That is the fact!”

Part of my spiritual work during these days and nights was reviewing references and notes from class instruction. Spiritual progress was definitely taking hold and that naturally, if gradually, manifested on the body. I work virtually, which includes Zoom meetings, and I was grateful not to miss any work, though I stayed off camera for the first couple of days in early January.

It was right then, at that point of spiritual progress and close to the point of claiming full healing, that word came from the association of Skip’s passing. This was a very big challenge. But I found in this time of spiritual labor and healing progress, that more than grief, more than anything, what I experienced concerning Skip was an immensity of gratitude. This is a part of what I recorded in my journal: It’s hard to overstate the magnitude of blessing that flowed from his depth and faithfulness of service to God and His Christ. The blessing in my own life is beyond measure. I am humbly grateful. Skip was devoted to Life, and my proper debt is to carry the devotion forward with renewed consecration and with unfathomable depths of gratitude.

The healing of the claim of disease was soon complete, and I was humbly thankful also for a healing of grief before it was ever allowed to descend.