“I feel I have made a great turn in my spiritual journey…”

Tonight I was struck by the feeling of great joy.  It seemingly came out of the blue but I really stopped what I was doing to think about it. And to appreciate it.  I have been working prayerfully lately to see more that our joy and happiness isn’t really from circumstances, things, or people, but from our relationship to God.  The Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s writings speak directly about this: Rom 8:6 2nd to be; S&H 57:18; S&H 60:29-31; Mis 9:30.  I love that I have taken this more to heart, starting my day affirming this, but lately it’s as if God is reminding me of it. I feel I have made a great turn in my spiritual journey with this continued unfoldment in thought and experience. 

I think some of the joy felt this evening came as a result of a recent physical healing that occurred right around Association this year.  I seemed to have a reoccurrence of an old claim just prior to Association day.  I didn’t give it much thought, except to work with familiar ideas that had been useful in the past.  Things came to a head though, just after the weekend of Association.  I found myself in a great deal of pain, and expected to go to a baseball game in the city that evening.  It seemed unkind to cancel at the late date so I went forward.  I have always loved the statement from Paul to be “absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (II Cor. 5:8)  I can think of one particular account in the Fruitage chapter of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy where this brought healing. (pp. 602-603)  For me, it meant sticking close to God all evening.  I worked with a passage that was new to me, one that a practitioner-friend had shared a week or so back.  It’s from The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany, and reads: “It is a forever fact that the meek and lowly in heart are blessed and comforted by divine Love.” (41:6-7)  It was simple enough that I could memorize it and when the discomfort seemed present, I insisted that those words weren’t just words, but all about God (and me).  Gradually I began to feel more dominion and enjoyed myself and the game. 

Next morning I phoned a practitioner and the symptoms really yielded.  I needed to make another phone call about a week later as the symptoms again became more alarming.  The practitioner stated, “We are not a bunch of body parts.”  I really liked that.  Again, I was fortified from the work.  I felt comfortable to pray for myself from then on.  Since that day about a week ago, the progress has been strong.  Two days ago, the only thing I could think was that I couldn’t keep up with the progress it was so rapid.  This morning, in fact, it was close to lunchtime when I even thought about the difficulty or remembered that there had been a difficulty.  The healing has felt complete.  The claim would insist in medical circles that something was wrong.  It was a wonderful reminder to me that Christian Science heals, as it has since its discovery and before as indicated in the Scriptures.