A member of the Christian Science community in Canberra was interviewed by Jenny Sawyer for a Sentinel Watch podcast titled Prayer: What’s It All About? In this she explains how she prayed when faced with difficult situations.
Prayer: What’s It All About? (Part 2) Click here to listen.
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A member of the Canberra Christian Science community had this article, Immortality Glimpsed in Dog’s Healing, published in the October 22 issue of the Christian Science Journal. Click here to listen to, or read, the full story.
Reggie, an elderly dog we adopted, was a member of our family until last year. We loved him dearly and he lived with us long past the life expectancy of a dog of his breed.
Gradually last year I noticed that he was slowing down and sleeping much of the time. It was starting to feel as if Reggie might be about to move on.
One Saturday morning he was in a long, deep sleep. He couldn’t be roused, and he had lost control of his bodily functions.
I’ve been a Christian Scientist all my life and it is natural for me to turn to God in prayer when I need answers, so I sat on the floor beside his bed and turned to God. “Tell me how to think about this,” I asked. Continue reading …
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A member of the Christian Science community in Canberra offered this account:
A couple of weeks ago I came home from shopping to find that our small dog, Tess, was unable to use her back left leg and it hung awkwardly when she tried to walk. I took her out into the garden to see if she might be persuaded to stretch it out and use it but she wasn’t able to.
I carried her inside and together we sat on my bed and I turned silently to God. I was brought up in Christian Science and I have witnessed many healings of both animals and family members and I knew that this was a quick and effective way to meet this need. However, as I sat with her it became very difficult not to be alarmed by the material picture. She seemed to be in so much pain that she was vomiting and just couldn’t settle. I knew that I would not let her remain in this situation and the thought kept coming to me that I should take her to the vet. She seemed so tiny and defenceless and my heart went out to her.
Through experience I also know that prayer in Christian Science gives quick results with no waiting and no side-effects. If this was the case then controlling my thought and handling the situation through prayer was the kindest course of action. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is the textbook of Christian Science and in it Mary Baker Eddy, the author, advises:
I determined to look away from the material picture and ask God what I should know about this. The inspirations came. I knew that there is more to life than the body – that all life is God expressed and God is Spirit which is never damaged, is never vulnerable. As I thought on these and other ideas I found my peace and Tess began to calm. Shortly, it felt right to get on with the evening chores. When I stood up to leave the room Tess jumped off the bed and followed me. She was trotting along using all four legs easily. During the night and the next day I watched her racing around and playing happily. There was no trace of any difficulty. I am very grateful for all I am learning through the continued study of Christian Science.
Sometimes life throws up situations where you have to stick to what you understand to be true, even if the physical evidence is saying something else. I suppose that’s a bit like Copernicus, when he was starting to realize that the earth rotated around the sun, and not what was commonly thought, he had to use his scientific understanding and not the popular opinion or even his physical senses.
I’ve had experiences, simpler, humbler ones, where I’ve had to stick to a spiritual understanding of what was going on and not just accept the outward sense of things. One of these times was when my dog, Ben, was hit by a car.
Ben had suddenly spotted by husband across the road and run straight out into the path of a car. The car, a huge four-wheel drive, had hit him, spearing him into the ground, the full force being taken by his head. And although there were only a few external abrasions, it was obvious something serious had happened to his skull. We took him home and I began to pray immediately.
Now my younger daughter was, at that stage, growing up and she was making her own mind up about things, and we’ve always respected our girls’ rights to think differently to us. And she felt very strongly that we should take him to the vet. She was actually shouting at me, and it was not easy, but I over rode her objections, and I did this for several reasons. I had more faith in God than in man. I had seen so many healings in my life, particularly of animals, that I had absolute confidence that the dog could be healed, but also I actually did not think that he would survive through any other means. So I just went to God for help.
I prayed through the night to know only what God would know about the situation, to know that His divine care was ever present and all powerful, that divine Love did not cause this accident so it had no divine authority, that His almighty care surrounded us and governed the scene with harmony. And as the day dawned, it suddenly became clear that I absolutely believed, and understood, God’s unwavering, unchanging love for all of His creation; that the Ben’s life was safe because he had always been in God’s care, and I knew it and I believed it and understood it more than what the physical senses were telling me.
Shortly after, my daughter came in to check on him and he leapt straight up into her arms perfectly well and happy, with all symptoms and pain completely gone. And within two days even all evidence of the abrasions was gone. But, as importantly, my daughter received the evidence that she needed as well.
This article was submitted by Beth Packer, a Christian Science healer from the South Coast of NSW, Australia.
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