“The story was that the end was near, but I remembered that the government is upon God’s shoulder.”
/We are very good friends with our neighbors. They are a retired couple and had moved in next door about 20 years ago on the day our daughter was born. They’ve watched our children grow up and we’ve had lots of opportunities to be supportive of one another.
Last summer the husband of the couple was admitted to the hospital, family came in to visit that didn’t normally visit, and it seemed like there was an expectation of death. I woke up in the night feeling very unsettled and so I went to Concord and looked up the following statement from Science and Health, by Mary Baker Eddy:
Truth, Life, and Love are the only legitimate and eternal demands on man, and they are spiritual lawgivers, enforcing obedience through divine statues. (SH 184:12)
I really liked this idea that death was not part of Life and had no power over us. Life and Love were all that ever could be demanded of us. This gave me a feeling of peace and I was able to go back to sleep. Our neighbor came home from the hospital after a week, but was readmitted about a month later. At the time, I was working out of town as a CS nurse for two weeks, and my husband called one evening to tell me that a family member had called my husband and urged him to visit our neighbor immediately. The story was that the end was near and the doctors could do no more for him. My initial reaction was to feel that I was in the wrong place and that I wanted and needed to be at home so I could be of help. However, as I began to pray, I started remembering that the government is upon God’s shoulder and that matter and death had no place nor power. Our lives were safe in God, Spirit. I didn’t sleep much that night, but prayed until I felt at peace. I was able to go to work the next day with no problem and was able to finish my two weeks of work without worry for my neighbor. I knew that he was safe. We all are.
When I got home, my neighbor was home too. He has made steady progress and has been driving his truck again, taking walks, and we were able to watch the Super Bowl together like we always do. We’re all so glad to have him home.
My son who’s in high school came to me the other night and complained about having to study for a test that included vivid descriptions of diseases and their supposed causes. I told him that it is fake news (this made him smile) and that he doesn’t have to believe it or be disturbed by it because there is 100% chance of good, God! As Christian Scientists we’re skilled at recognizing the false testimony of sin, disease, and death and casting it out as nothingness. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health:
Because man-made systems insist that man becomes sick and useless, suffers and dies, all in consonance with the laws of God, are we to believe it? Are we to believe an authority which denies God’s spiritual command relating to perfection,--an authority which Jesus proved to be false? He did the will of the Father. He healed sickness in defiance of what is called material law, but in accordance with God’s law, the law of Mind. (SH 168:15)
And from page 450:
The Christian Scientist has enlisted to lessen evil, disease, and death; and he will overcome them by understanding their nothingness and the allness of God, or good. (SH 450:19-22)
I’m so grateful for the joy-giving and life-giving understanding of God that Christian Science brings to us.