Healing and Testimonials

Healing of Epilepsy

When I was a freshman in college, I began having what were called epileptic seizures. These seizures were severe, and I was taken to a doctor who diagnosed this medical issue and prescribed medication that would hopefully hold it in check. The medicine was strong, hard on the body, with no guarantee that it would work or continue to work satisfactorily. Since I was not yet aware of Christian Science, I was told that this was the best that the medical community could do for me at that time. Since I had no apparent alternatives, I took the medicine for several years.

My parents and family had provided me with a fairly strong Christian upbringing. It began to bother me that I had this problem and that there was apparently nothing I could do except take this strong medicine and hope it would continue to work.

During the next three years of college, I took some religion classes trying to better understand my religion and hopefully learn a better way to live my life with this problem. It also came to me that I had been taught from the Bible that God, the all-knowing and all-doing, created all that was created, and all of it was good. Also, the creation was done. That meant to me that God created man and knew what man would do with his life. It made no sense to me that God would knowingly create man and that man could fail and eventually die.

During this time period, while still in college, I met a friend who had close relatives who were practicing Christian Scientists. These people gave me a copy of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. I began reading the book and found it very enlightening. It answered a lot of my questions and also created more questions.

After I graduated from college, I began work. My employer required a copy of my medical history, which they approved as long as my apparent problem was controlled; and it didn't affect my work.

During this time, my interest in Christian Science grew; and I wanted to be healed of epilepsy and stop taking medication. I continued to read and study the textbook and other works of the author and to attend church, though not as a member. Also during this time, I was confident that I had been healed of the claim of epilepsy; and I stopped taking the medicine that I had been taking for several years. During that time, I had no mental or physical issues from the claim of epilepsy.

Some time later, my company asked me if I had any changes to my medical history due to this prior report of epilepsy. I told them that I had stopped taking my medications and felt that I was healed. They then asked me to have some testing done by their medical staff. They sent me to a big medical hospital's testing facility in a large nearby city, where the testing was performed. The results of the CAT scan test showed that the brain scan that they performed was completely clear of any problems. There was no indication that I had ever had epilepsy or any other brain disease.

I have been free from epilepsy from the time I read the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

Sheldon Lieberg
Sheboygan, Wisconsin


Broken Arm Quickly Healed

From the July 2009 issue of The Christian Science Journal

I'VE LEARNED THAT WHEN Christ Jesus told his disciples to heal the sick he was really giving a command and not making a suggestion. That directive is just as valid today as it was 2,000 years ago. Mary Baker Eddy described the Christ that Jesus so completely demonstrated as "... the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 332). The Christ is still speaking to us today.

I learned an important lesson about listening to and following through on Christ's messages when I was a  freshman in high school. One night I was playing football in our backyard with kids from the neighborhood. It was late and very dark but we kept playing anyway. At one point, running to the goal, I fell down hard and heard a cracking sound as my right forearm hit the ground. As I lay there, I could feel the edge of the bone against the skin. The first thought I had was that I had broken my arm. The second thought was "You heal it." I was surprised at that message, but my response was both immediate and determined: "Yes, I will." I had been attending a Christian Science Sunday School since a child, where I learned that because God is Spirit and perfect, and because I am made in His image and likeness, I am spiritual and perfect. I knew that this spiritual fact could heal.

Without telling my friends the extent of the injury, I went into the house where my mom and dad were reading in the living room. Without mentioning the injury to them, I said good night and went to bed. I lay down on the bed with an extra pillow under the broken arm. With my other hand I reached for Science and Health and turned to the first sentence of "the scientific statement of being" on page 468, "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter." I decided to think about just that one sentence until I understood it.

It wasn't long before I fell asleep. The next morning I jumped out of bed and raced into the kitchen for breakfast. I filled a bowl with cereal and was on my way to the refrigerator for milk when I remembered the arm. Everything felt normal. No pain, no bone against the skin. My first thought was "That's what Christian Science is--able to heal quickly. That's the way it's supposed to happen." I told my mother about the healing. She wasn't surprised at this quick healing because through her own study and practice of Christian Science she had come to expect that any condition could be healed through Christian Science treatment.

As I recall that healing, it has become clear to me that it was the Christ mentally speaking to me saying, "You heal it." Affirming "Yes, I will," and turning to the truth of being, knowing that the Christ was with me, guaranteed that the arm would be healed. This healing took place over 40 years ago and I've had no problem with that arm since.

Dale Johnson
Corpus Christi, Texas
(Dale now lives in Kohler, Wisconsin.)


Healing Prayer during Pregnancy and Childbirth

I am most grateful for the circumstances surrounding the birth of my first child. During my pregnancy, I often felt bombarded with other people's talk about how painful birth is, how most everyone suffers from morning sickness, how one really slows down, is tired, etc. I even had people telling me to get rid of our two cats as they would become jealous of the baby and kill it! I always assured people that their particular opinion was groundless. Better yet, I strove to be a good example--never tiring at my job, being cheerful, and not worrying. When someone would say pregnancy strains you in different ways, I would respond, "No, it doesn't have to be that way."

I knew God didn't condemn women to suffer, and I knew the Eve account (in the Bible) of bearing children in sorrow was simply an allegory, a metaphor. The Christian Science practitioner I occasionally called to pray with me mentioned that my overcoming worldly 'beliefs' (lies) about pregnancy would bless the world. I was able to work at my full-time job up to the day my son was born, and fulfill other outside duties (including serving on the boards of two community groups and also church activities) with no problems.

At my last appointment with the doctor, two days before the birth, my blood pressure was significantly high, whereas all throughout the pregnancy it had been normal. The doctor's nurse expressed alarm. I prayed to know that blood wasn't my life source--God was the source of my life and the baby's life. God is Life, Love, and the Father-Mother of all.  With that, any sense of fear about this situation just left me. Two days later, while I was in labor, the doctor checked my blood pressure and remarked that it was fine.

About a week after the birth, I suddenly began clotting heavily and called the practitioner again to pray for me as I was very afraid. I was instructed to start a chain of gratitude by looking for signs of God's control, such as harmony in our home. I listened quietly to hear what God had to say to me. I knew my body (or things in general) couldn't be out of control for I was a reflection of Spirit, God. There was no reason to "stand aghast at nothingness." 1 The substance of my true being is God. The clotting ceased immediately. What a learning experience this was for me, listening to and trusting in God's messages of joy and harmony. My husband and I were both very grateful for how every detail fell into place regarding the birth of our son.

1 From Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 563:1-7

Carol Myers
Sheboygan, Wisconsin


Why Should Our Sunday Schools Be Filled With Students?

It's always nice to see Christian Science Sunday Schools filled with young boys and girls, all studying the Bible and Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, singing hymns, listening to and talking with their teachers.

But even as we watch them studying and learning, we need to answer an important question: Are students learning about God to overcome problems after they reach 20 years of age, or are we expecting them to use what they've learned during their years in Sunday School?

When I was a young boy, my teacher ended each class by saying "Now remember kids, if you ever get into trouble, don't be afraid. Say to yourself, God is with me and God will take care of me."

When I was seven I had a chance to use what he told us. My friend, a six-year-old named Bruce, and I decided to walk home from school instead of taking the bus. It was early March in Wisconsin, spring was only a couple of weeks away and it was a nice day.

We lived in a small town next to a large lake, almost eleven miles long. Actually we lived across a bay of that lake. The bay was a half-mile across. The lake was frozen and since we had been ice skating the past weekend we decided to walk across the frozen lake.

Not long after we left the shore a warm fog rolled in across the ice, quickly melting the snow that covered the ice. The fog was so thick that we couldn't see either shore. We just assumed that we were walking straight and kept going. We walked for a long time, and it began to get very dark.

As we walked, we found an ice-fishing shanty that had fallen through the ice. Only the top was visible. Bruce started to cry. The words of my Sunday School teacher came to me very quickly. I repeated them to Bruce. "Don't be afraid, God is with us and He will take care of us."

Moments later we saw a light ahead of us and we started running. As we got closer to the shore we could hear my older sister and his older brother calling our names.

We scrambled onto the shore and started the long walk toward our homes. Since it was dark I asked my sister, "Where's your flashlight?" She answered "I didn't bring one; we came down here when it was light out." I can remember stopping to look at the homes along the shore, thinking that we might have seen a porch light. There were no lights. The houses along the shore were summer cottages, closed up for the winter months.

At that moment I knew who had shined the light. God was with us and He did take care of us; but the most wonderful blessing was yet to come. All the way home I felt very close to God, a feeling I will never forget.

Times like these shape the lives of young people. I have always wondered how different our world would be if every young girl and boy could experience a few moments of complete oneness with God.

Yes, let's fill our Sunday Schools. Let's give every young child the same blessing I received. To feel completely at-one with God is a gift that does last a lifetime.

Dale Johnson
Kohler, Wisconsin


Healing of effects from falling off bike and fall down stairs

I was riding my bike and checking the bike computer to see how far I had gone when I ran into the back of a parked truck. My helmet was cracked and after relaxing in a warm bath I realized my neck was stiffand hurting. I called a practitioner to work for me and asked her to continue praying for me for the weekend seeing I would be out of town. The weekend went well and my neck did not give me any more trouble.

Another time I was ushering in the balcony for a theatre production when I fell down the steps. Luckily, I did not take anyone with me. I twisted my knee in the process. I told the other ushers I was fine and started to pray while I cleaned the blood off and bandaged the wound. I continued to usher while I tried to declare the truth of my being safe and protected. I have had problems with my knees since an incident in a soccer practice many years ago in high school. At that time of that incident, I was released from gym class to go the medical department in town. As I was walking there, I was praying and the pain went away. I still felt I needed to go to the medical department since that is why I had left school. Since that time I had accepted that I have weak knees and have had many incidents where the knees were swollen for a number of days. This night I also had pain in my finger and decided I should call a practitioner. I did so and he advised me to read the weekly Bible lesson until something stood out to me. What I learned was that I needed to forgive myself for past actions and that they did not affect the present. The next day my knee was fine, the fastest I've ever recovered.

Jeanenne Thompson
Kohler, Wisconsin


Painful Knee Healed

From the November 9, 2009 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel

For a period of several years, from time to time I experienced a painful twinge in one of my knees. It didn't seem serious, though, until about two years ago when the situation magnified greatly. I was riding my bicycle when I felt this knee tighten up to the point where the pain was intense. When I returned home, I could barely walk, and I could also see that my knee was quite swollen. I had to grab a golf club to use as a walking aid.

Over the years, as a Christian Scientist, I've had many healings, all without the use of medical science. I've been healed of diabetes, a broken arm, ankle injuries--all by relying on an understanding of God and the perfection of His creation. As far as I was concerned, the issue with my knee was another opportunity to see how there could never be a mistake in God's work, and I could be a witness to that fact.

I've learned to begin scientific treatment by turning to God for guidance. So I listened in prayer for what I needed to know now in this situation. I was led to consider some important issues. The first was ownership. I saw the importance of understanding that an injured knee wasn't, in spiritual fact, a part of my being as a pure and perfect child of God. My goal, therefore, was to eliminate a false picture of God's creation and about God--to see that He doesn't abandon His children but eternally maintains their wholeness. I didn't need to change myself or my knee in any way, but rather I needed to discern what was true about me right then and always.

The false logic of the situation also needed to be corrected. I didn't need to agree that a minor discomfort could develop into a major problem, or that there could even be major and minor degrees of discomfort in the first place. Christian Science reveals the spiritual fact that God, good, is the only Mind or intelligence, and this eliminates the possibility that there is intelligence or power in its opposite, matter. Without intelligence to begin with, matter cannot grow or develop. Since it's inert and mindless, the possibility of progression is impossible.

I also confronted and dismissed in prayer the material laws that seemed to be ruling the day--false laws that had no origin in the all-good divine Principle, God, and hence no genuine authority at all. The first was what might be called the "law of age and wear." The idea that when parts get older, they tend to wear out--in this case, that knees become fragile and wear out after years of walking and running.

A second material law under contention was that the problem was here yesterday, is here today, and will be here tomorrow because it has a life of its own. The assertion was that it could be real because it had a location--it occupied part of my body.

A passage by Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures addressed both these issues: "Man was not created from a material basis, nor bidden to obey material laws which Spirit never made; his province is in spiritual statutes, in the higher law of Mind" (p. 307).

The material "law" of "age and wear" suggests that the quality of our structure, our substance, changes as we grow older, from good to bad, from strong to weak, and from healthy to unhealthy. This law is exposed as bogus by the spiritual law of unchangeable Truth. As the Bible instructs, "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it" (Eccl. 3:14).

I prayed with these truths, to understand more clearly that my spiritual substance--the only true makeup of my identity--could never be invaded or corrupted, but remains forever perfect and intact. I also prayed to know that the spiritual law of Life affirms that God, Life, is manifested only through spiritual reality, which is forever harmonious. The seeming realities of pain and debilitation, therefore, had no connection to Life. They had no past or present, and couldn't continue.

These prayers were effective. It wasn't long before the golf club was back in the golf bag and I was walking normally. It's been two years, and the difficulty has never returned. I was healed when the fog of false beliefs evaporated and I glimpsed myself as God had created me.

Dale Johnson
Corpus Christi, Texas
(Dale now lives in Kohler, Wisconsin.)