Healing of Facial Condition
In November, 2017, I began to experience some difficulty with one side of my face. My smile was crooked, my eye would not blink and the eyebrow was lower than the other side. I did not look like myself and I was frightened.
I began to pray, reasoning that God, who is good only, did not cause this, so how could it come to be? But I felt very fearful, so I contacted a Christian Science practitioner (one who is in the public practice of healing through spiritually-based prayer as taught in Christian Science) and asked for prayerful treatment. I shared my fear and was comforted by this person’s peaceful, unalarmed response. I was assured of God’s loving care for me and was also reminded of a Bible passage that says, “I will put my spirit within you.” This promise contrasts sharply to the world’s declaration that we are made of matter and its associated beliefs. I was encouraged to accept into thought only what God puts there-the spirit of Truth and Love. I clung to this promise over the next couple of days.
Then a loving family member sent me a precious article written by Carol Dee Lewis entitled, “Healing—because there is no fear in the allness of Love” from the April 2014 issue of the Christian Science Journal. After spending time pouring over this wonderful article with its loving message, which spoke to me so clearly and specifically, like a direct message from God, I felt for the first time that I understood, at least to some degree, that even feeling fear could not stop the love of God to heal—that God was bigger than this! And with this conviction the fear dissolved. I now genuinely felt this was an opportunity rather than a challenge.
I continued to work with the practitioner on a nearly daily basis and felt refreshed and inspired each time we communicated. Thanksgiving was approaching and I’d committed, and was looking forward to singing in a trio with my daughter at her Christian Science church for the Thanksgiving service. Also, I was planning to attend a large Thanksgiving gathering with this daughter’s in-laws family. On one hand, I wanted to hide away and not be seen, but on the other hand, I reasoned what better place to be for the Thanksgiving church service than with a group of fellow Christians who knew how to look beyond what the eye can see. It was a joyful service! I attended the large Thanksgiving dinner festivities, which included a time for each individual to express gratitude. I know there was some concern about my condition, but it wasn’t specifically mentioned and the atmosphere permeated with love for one another. There was no longer hesitation in going about my daily business, which included being out and about and interacting with others. I was not going to hide away because I knew others could see me as God sees me. I was experiencing stirring in my thought as well as progress in the so-called physical situation.
My desire to draw closer to God hour by hour was bearing fruit. Whether falling asleep at bedtime, waking up in the middle of the night or rising to start a new day, my thoughts were focused on God and His love for me as Her expression. One of the very helpful points the practitioner shared was that Mrs. Eddy, in her spiritual insight of The Lord’s Prayer for “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven,” does not say “enable us to imagine.” But she says, “enable us to know, as in heaven, so on earth, God is omnipotent, supreme.” This really struck a chord with me. There was no imagining going on—instead, there was knowing! And I could know what God knows. I could focus more using the lens of Spirit.
I also regularly included the larger world thought in my prayers knowing that each step of my progress was not just for me but could have an effect beyond—it could be helpful in some small way to replace fear with hope and frustration with patience and the expectation of good.
Within about 2-1/2 weeks the healing was complete. It felt so natural to be lifted out of this false view of myself and to express my identity as God knows me. I’m deeply grateful for a growing sense of God as All and of my purpose to bear witness to this fact in any way I can.
Marsha
Renton WA
