The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
For quite some weeks I had been having trouble walking. I could move around but my walking ‘style’ was more akin to a ’duck waddle’. My hips were causing me pain and my style of locomotion and gait had altered to try and accommodate and ameliorate the pain. For someone who is quite comfortable undertaking various sports, going to the gym and doing manual labour this wasn’t a very good state of affairs.
As a Christian Scientist I had turned to our textbook, Science and Health With Key to the Scripturesby Mary Baker Eddy, and to the Bible for support. I continued my search for any passages within those books to assist my spiritual growth and understanding and application of Christian Science to healing my problem. After about a fortnight of such study and still having a ‘duck waddle’ walk I was no better.
One of the hymns (565) in the Christian Science Hymnal has the words:
Cleanse the lepers, heal the sick. Cast out demons. Raise the dead. Truth is revealed in every place, Throughout all time, throughout all space
In searching through the Bible, I was acutely aware of the healing works of Jesus Christ, and indeed hymn 565 glorifies such healings. Try as I might I still couldn’t shake my problem. As an adherent to Christian Science I have been able to overcome a number of physical problems by turning to our texts for comfort and support. I know this method of healing works – but this time it was proving difficult. I was still undertaking work; I still had to move around; I still had things to do – but it was becoming physically taxing. Some days seemed rather long.
I asked my wife to pray with me on this situation. Together we have had many quick healings of physical problems. After a very brief discussion with her I started to ‘waddle’ down the hallway. I had not travelled more than three metres when all pain and difficulty with my problem disappeared. Once again I was amazed at how supremely effective and immediate Christian healing can be. It is not magic; it is not mind control; it is not drugs; it is not hypnosis – it is Christian healing.
Having some understanding of Christian Science and Christian healing with previous problems, I know I shouldn’t really have been amazed but still my expectations of relief being so immediate were more than met. I still continue to be ever so grateful for the power of Christian healing and its application in my life.
Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health (p.138) states:
Jesus established in the Christian era the precedent for all Christianity, theology, and healing. Christians are under as direct orders now, as they were then, to be Christlike, to possess the Christ-spirit, to follow the Christ-example, and to heal the sick as well as the sinning. It is easier for Christianity to cast out sickness than sin, for the sick are more willing to part with pain than are sinners to give up the sinful, so-called pleasure of the senses. The Christian can prove this to-day as readily as it was proved centuries ago.
I had read and reread this passage, but I had been busy with material physical work and should have been busy with God’s work. It was this realisation that came to me afterwards. I had spent time searching through the texts but had not been giving the spiritual work the due deference and application it should have been accorded.
Although coming to Christian Science later in life, I am so very grateful for having found it.
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
In our back yard in Canberra we have certain sections of the garden fenced off as a chicken run. One afternoon I was down in the bottom corner of the chicken’s area checking for eggs. On this day the chickens had been particularly industrious and had dug some quite deep holes and unearthed some old timbers that I had not known were there. As I stepped back from the hutch I felt a sharp pain in my left foot. I looked down to find that I had stepped on a piece of wood that had a very long, rusty nail sticking out of it. The nail had gone right through my plastic yard shoes and was now lodged deep in my foot. It had obviously been buried for some time and now the nail was not only rusty but muddy and yucky with chicken droppings. I pulled it out and went up to the house to wash it off.
As I walked back very fearful ideas started filling my thought. Not long before I had heard someone tell of symptoms of tetanus and I found myself worrying that I had never had a tetanus injection ever.
At first I thought: Why am I thinking these thoughts? I never think like this! I am not normally a fearful person. I’ve been a student of Christian Science all my life and it has taught me that what I think is very important. The quality of my thoughts determines my experience, so thinking fearfully was strange to me. Then it dawned on me – these were not really my thoughts! These thoughts came only as suggestions. I love that word suggestion; it means that I have the option of accepting or rejecting something. This was something that I would certainly reject. In that moment I felt no ownership of these thoughts. I knew that I didn’t have to analyse them, or wonder: Why did I think this? or delve into what fears might be lurking in my thinking for me to produce these thoughts. Because I felt no ownership of them I could simply discard them.
That was the end of the matter. I washed my foot but there was no pain and it immediately stopped bleeding. Later that day after my shower when I dried my foot, I couldn’t even find the place. There were never any repercussions from the incident.
The lesson I learned that day has stayed with me. Nowadays I am more alert to the implications of this word suggestion. God never suggests; only human reasoning suggests. God doesn’t give you options; He is just good and His word is final.
I am becoming more practised now at recognising suggestions and not owning all thoughts that come to me. I know I don’t need to analyse a suggestion; I don’t need to delve into it; I don’t need to feel guilty for thinking it. I just reject it with a very firm: That’s not my thought! When I say this, I know that it isn’t my thought because it isn’t of God. I know that God doesn’t give me fearful thoughts therefore fearful thoughts are not my thoughts. Learning this has so simplified my prayers. I use this line all the time now: That’s not my thought! And then I let it go. Only good, healthy, harmonious, progressive thoughts are mine because these stem directly from God’s goodness.
Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously. When the condition is present which you say induces disease, whether it be air, exercise, heredity, contagion, or accident, then perform your office as porter and shut out these unhealthy thoughts and fears. Exclude from mortal mind the offending errors; then the body cannot suffer from them.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p392:24-32)
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
One of my roles in the years just before I retired was to organise the annual regional conference for the large state government department I worked for. These events were attended by over 300 participants and included one main keynote speaker and approximately 48 breakout sessions. Planning took many months. In order to secure an exceptional keynote speaker, it was necessary to book at least twelve months in advance.
This particular year I managed to secure a booking with someone I knew to be not only at the forefront of his specialist area, but an excellent and engaging speaker. He was pleased to be asked and at the initial interview we discussed a timeline for when he would give me details of his talk and materials for hand outs etc. During the year we touched base a couple of times and all seemed to be going to plan. However, when we were about a month out from the event he still hadn’t given me the material I was expecting and wasn’t answering my calls or emails.
Eventually I managed to make contact with his support staff. They said that he had been in hospital with a very severe case of pneumonia and even after a couple of months he was not well enough to be back at work. I said I would make contact again in a week or so to see how he was progressing. This time I managed to talk to the speaker himself. He said that although he was still very ill and weak he felt sure he would improve enough to be able to do the talk. We touched base several times over the next couple of weeks but his health was not improving. He seemed keen not to let me down and said that he would bring his wife to support him and possibly do the talk sitting down. He thought then he might possibly manage. This was still the situation, the day before the conference and it was extremely tempting to be very worried. I did not want this dear man to jeopardise his health but I also knew that the opening address was a very important part of the conference.
I have been raised in Christian Science and I’ve learnt over many years that there are spiritual laws that can be relied upon when challenges arise. So I prayed to see things from a spiritual, rather than a human perspective. I knew that this conference was a right idea. Among other things it was an opportunity for participants and presenters to share ideas that worked and to collectively rise to higher levels of performance. I knew that all right ideas are God’s because I have come to know God as infinite Mind and the source of all good. I have also come to know God as Love and that Love is not just a feeling but a divine law. This law ensured the safety of all; this law held everyone in their right place and maintained harmony. I thought on these and similar ideas until I felt a sense of calm – a strong sense that all was well. The night before the conference I slept peacefully expectant of good unfolding.
The following evening was the meet and greet and the conference opening dinner. When I arrived the hall was already abuzz with excited participants. Quickly I noticed that there was quite a gathering of people over near the bar. In the centre of this someone was holding the floor and entertaining a small crowd. As I moved closer I realised that was my keynote speaker. He greeted me with a huge grin. ‘You wouldn’t believe what happened’, he said. ‘You know how I’ve been so sick for the last few months. Well last night, it was like a switch flicked and instantly I was completely well. I haven’t felt this well in years. Look at me now!’ His excitement and enthusiasm spilled over into the group and he continued to entertain them. Needless to say his talk was a great success, as was the rest of the conference.
Every day I am grateful for what I am learning in Christian Science. It teaches me to be calm in the face of challenges; it teaches me to turn away from the human scenario and to acknowledge the spiritual truths; it teaches me that there are spiritual laws that apply to all life and if understood and trusted these laws will adjust any discordant situation.
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
When my son was growing up we had a friend who often went on camping and hiking holidays with a group of long-time friends. Once or twice a year he would invite my son and me to join the group. I’ve never been a sporty person and being really physically fit has never been a priority for me but I do love the outdoors and these trips offered a welcome break. I had a very busy job working 50-60 hours a week in a largely sedentary occupation. When I wasn’t working, my life was filled with chores. In fact the only regular exercise I had was doing the vacuuming.
On one occasion, when my son was eleven, our trip took us to a beautiful gorge in Queensland. The first day out walking was to be a warm-up day of about 10 kilometres. The track was rough in some places and there was a lot of climbing over rocks and obstacles. My little ‘girly’ walking boots lasted about half an hour before the sole detached from the body of one shoe and this made the rest of the walk that day somewhat difficult. However, I was determined to enjoy the day and I did. I hadn’t brought a spare pair of walking shoes with me, but my son had and he was happy for me to borrow them. Even at that age his foot was huge and his boots were about three sizes too big. Still I was determined to make the most of things and I developed a new style of walking that accommodated the oversized shoes.
The next day the group had planned a 22 kilometre round trip up the gorge to some Aboriginal caves. This route, they told me, was rougher than the first day – it involved much climbing over huge boulders and up inclines. These other people were experienced walkers and they set a very brisk pace. At first I was concerned about how I would go. Would I be able to keep up with my oversized shoes and my lack of fitness? I quickly stopped these negative thoughts. I may not be physically fit in the usual way but I was spiritually fit. Despite my busy life, I did always find time for prayer, for drawing close to God. I knew that my true identity was spiritual and a spiritual being doesn’t suffer from muscle fatigue. The Bible tells me that I am the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1: 26, 27) and as God is never worn out, nor could I be. I trusted these thoughts and felt buoyed by them. The day flew by and I kept up without any difficulty.
When we got back to camp that day my son and another boy, who was a few years older, asked if they could go down and cool off in the little creek nearby. We agreed so long as they stayed together. The rest of the group talked about how exhausted they were and sat with their feet in buckets of cool water saying they didn’t think they could walk another step. I didn’t feel the need for a bucket of water but I was happy to sit and chat. Shortly the older boy came back without my son. Apparently the little creek wasn’t very exciting but some other children had told them about a place down river where there was a high rock that you could jump off into a deep pool. My son had gone to investigate. The older boy didn’t go because the pool was another two kilometres away and he didn’t want to go that far. I set off to find my son. I found him at the pool and he was happy to return with me. We walked the two kilometres back chatting happily about the day. When we returned the others were still recovering. They decided that the next day would be a very short walk.
I can honestly say I felt no ill-effects at all from any of our walks that week. I enjoyed every minute of it. I proved to be as fit as the others who led much more active lives than me. I totally put this down to my spiritual approach to activity. Whatever it is right for me to do I can do when I claim my spiritual identity.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy is the textbook of Christian Science. In it Eddy states: A mortal man possesses this body, and he makes it harmonious or discordant according to the images of thought impressed upon it (p208). Holding in thought only images of health – images of myself as a perfect child of God – allowed me to experience the full enjoyment of this wonderful opportunity.
The Christian Science Church – a part of the Canberra community. Members share testimonies and talk about their lives as Christian Scientists.
This article, A Quick Recovery from Pneumonia, is by a member of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. It describes a quick healing of pneumonia-like symptoms.
Last year quite suddenly I began to feel ill. Within a day I was laboring to breathe and felt dangerously ill. Some years back I had similarly fallen ill and to comply with work regulations was assessed by a doctor. The diagnosis at this previous time was pneumonia so I was fairly certain that this time, although I did not consult a doctor, I was also presenting with pneumonia symptoms.
I was brought up in Christian Science and have witnessed many healings so I felt confident in relying on prayer again for this.
Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man.
So I held fast to this and the knowledge that I was made in ‘the image and likeness of God’ (Genesis 1: 26, 27) and this settled my thinking. By the next morning I was breathing easily but I still felt extremely unwell. At this point I thought it was wise to contact a friend and ask her to pray with me. This friend expressed such love and tenderness – I just felt enveloped in love. Within a couple of hours the temperature was gone and I was feeling well enough to get up. That night I ate dinner with the family and the next morning I was at my usual post as Superintendent of the Sunday School. This was the end of this condition.
For this, the previous healing of pneumonia, and many other healings through prayer and spiritualisation of thought I am very grateful. Christian Science is teaching me, as I meet such challenges, that we really do have dominion and that God is ‘a very present help in trouble’ (Psalm 46: 1).
To read more testimonies of healing shared by members of the Christian Science Church in Canberra click on the archive headings on the left for May and June 2016.
The four-hourly doses of morphine were such a welcome relief to the intense pain I was experiencing following major surgery. What could possibly make me give them up?
I found there was something that could persuade me to do so. And that’s why, I want to share my experience with sufferers of chronic pain.
In Australia, one in five people live with chronic pain, including adolescents and children. This prevalence rises to one in three people over the age of 65. Chronic pain is linked to depression and suicide and is Australia’s third most costly health condition.
To manage it, a range of treatments such physio and physical therapy, medical acupuncture, thinking strategies, lifestyle changes, nutrition and traditional prescription opioids, are employed.
Despite this, pain is often long-lasting and continues for years with no foreseeable end.
However, I’ve joined a groundswell of people that believe it’s time to do more than simply manage pain. We are convinced it can be reduced, and even healed.
According to a 2011 report, “one reason pain is so hard to treat is that it isn’t just physical.” Our thinking can actually have an impact on the amount of pain we feel.
The power of our expectations is illustrated in a series of trials into the relationship between pain and the placebo effect. Hundreds of patients treating irritable bowel syndrome, migraine and back pain experienced similar or better results from placebos than from strong pain killers.
While it’s agreed that placebos are not a universal panacea, placebo research leads us to think about how much influence thought actually has on our health.
Reasoning from a more spiritual perspective, author Mary Baker Eddy, reached a similar conclusion, explaining that pain is always a mental image or state.
But can pain really be relieved just by thinking differently?
Yes, but in my experience I have found that it needs more than just positive thinking to free us from pain.
So, back to my stay in hospital. In my late-teens I was “on fire” with enthusiasm about a couple of unique books which I had recently revisited. They answered so many of the questions I had about why we are here and whether what our senses perceive is all there is to existence.
The Bible, so comforting to so many people, didn’t seem all that relevant to me until I started reading Science and Health, which brings out its spiritual meaning and explains how and why not only Jesus, but also his early disciples and many of the Old Testament prophets, were able to heal all kinds of physical needs.
I learned that there was a spiritual science in place based on a divine consciousness of being.
My studies had shown the importance of addressing the spiritual need as an aid to recovery, a standpoint now supported by medical research.
I started reading the thought-changing book again right there in hospital, and called a Christian Science practitioner to pray with me by helping me to understand more consistently my real, spiritual nature.
I can still remember the feeling of love and wholeness that engulfed me soon after. No more drugs were needed, and worrying digestive difficulties painlessly dissipated that day.
On this basis, many have been healed of acute and chronic pain, and demonstrated that such pain need not last forever. Peace and health are a present possibility for those willing to dig deeper into the understanding of their spiritual identity.
This article was contributed by Kay Stroud, a life-long Christian Scientist, who is a freelance writer focussing on the undeniable connection between our thinking and our experience including our health. She writes for metropolitan and regional news media throughout Australia and beyond, and is a regular contributor to Australia’s national forum, Online Opinion, and the APN regional network in Northern NSW and Queensland.
Jon is a full-time Christian Science healer and an international speaker. In this lecture he shares his understanding of this reliable method of spiritual healing.
In Step Out of Your Story and into Healing Jon discusses the necessity of letting go of a sense of our own personal history – our sense of ourselves as flawed mortals – to find our true spiritual identities and in doing this healing is realised. His explanations are clear and logical and his presentation dynamic and engaging. Click here to listen.
When she had nowhere else to turn, Stormy turned to God in prayer – a God she did not know very well, whose existence she had often doubted and who now was the focus of her anger.
She studied the Bible and the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, and learned that God was Love; God did not send sickness. As her understanding of God grew her health improved. She learned that there were divine laws that sustained and maintained man. As she learned to apply these laws she was restored to perfect health.
Stormy is now a full-time Christian Science healer and teacher. She has travelled the world sharing what she has learned about spiritual healing.
The Christian Science Church – a part of the Canberra community. Members share testimonies and talk about their lives as Christian Scientists.
This article, A Prayer and a Cat, is by Debbie who is a member of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. She describes how her prayers for the world also resulted in healing for a friend’s cat.
I would like to share a healing that happened some years ago but it’s one that has meant a lot to me.
At the time I was working as a teacher in a local primary school. There was one particular colleague that I sat with sometimes at lunch; she often talked to me about her cat, Hershey, who seemed to be a big part of her life. However, at this particular time much of her conversation was about her upcoming trip to the US – a holiday for which they had been saving for a long time.
One day I walked into the staff room to find this friend crying gently while she ate her sandwich. I sat with her and asked what had upset her. She said that Hershey was sick and the vet had said he would die any day. She was supposed to leave for the US in a few days and no cattery would take a cat that was about to die. The kindest thing to do, the vet said, was to put him to sleep before she left.
My friend couldn’t bring herself to put her beloved cat down and felt guilty that she was leaving him when he was so ill. Yet the holiday couldn’t be cancelled at this late date.
Without thinking too much I said: “Would you like me to mind Hershey?” Immediately she jumped at this idea and within the minute it was settled. She said she understood that he would not be alive when she returned but that at least he could go in his own time and in comfort. I agreed.
Two days later Hershey was delivered to my place. I admit I was not prepared for the sight of him. He lay motionless in his basket; he was skin and bones with dull tufty fur and sore spots; his eyes remained closed. I was informed that he needed his own quiet, dark room with no interruptions except for his medication. I had not considered the issue of medication. He had so many! She explained that Hershey had an immune deficiency condition – a cat’s version of AIDS she said. We installed Hershey in his room and she said her good-byes.
For two days I tried to give Hershey his medication but it seemed to cause him so much stress. I couldn’t see the point so I stopped. I had been brought up in Christian Science and had always solved problems quickly through prayer. Prayer for me was not a passive asking God for help but an active change of base in my thinking and spiritual reasoning.
There had been a lot of news coverage at this time around the issue of AIDS and I had been praying about this. In my reasoning I went back to my basic beliefs: I believed that there was a controlling order or principle to the universe and that principle was Love – another name for God. A God of love I reasoned could not make a dangerous universe; that a God of Love protected creation, it didn’t expose it to harm. I had proved many times that holding to spiritual truths, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, resolved inharmonious situations.
Now I applied this reasoning to Hershey. He was part of Love’s creation and I knew this Love was a powerful force for good. In the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes: You embrace your body in your thought, and you should delineate upon it thoughts of health, not of sickness (p208) so I embraced Hershey in my thought in this way. I didn’t dwell on him, but I held to this idea every time I did think of him. I felt safe that he was safe.
Very quickly he began to respond. In a day or so he was up and walking about his room; another day or two he was out and exploring the house.
At the end of two weeks my friend returned and phoned to see how things had gone with Hershey. She was very surprised to hear that he was ready to be picked up. When she arrived to collect him he was sitting on the back of the lounge in the sun looking out the window. He was plump and healthy, his fur was flawless and sleek and shiny, and he had a playful sparkle in his eyes. He was very glad to be going home.
Sometimes when I pray for the world I am tempted to wonder: Are my prayers doing any good? This experience with Hershey gave me further proof that spiritual truths are powerful, more powerful than material evidence, and that prayers are effective in bringing about harmony in any situation – even those given up as hopeless. I continue to be grateful for all that I am learning in my on-going study of Christian Science.
The Christian Science Church – a part of the Canberra community. Members share testimonies and talk about their lives as Christian Scientists.
My name is Jen and I am a member of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. I love learning about other people’s religions – I hope that some of you will love learning about mine.
Although Christian Science is very much based on what Jesus taught us, I often describe it to atheist and agnostic friends as a blend of Buddhism and Quantum Physics. This is because it has a focus on overcoming a material view of the world, and understanding God as a spiritual life force. It also presents us with a set of rules that we can use to understand God and His relation to man: spiritual laws that are the basis of reality.
So what does this mean for me, as a Christian Scientist? It means that I work every day to bring spirituality into my experience, and have seen healing as a result. I lived in Indonesia for a year and attracted a lot of attention as a fair-haired, blue-eyed foreigner. I developed anxiety during my time there due to the constant staring, catcalling and sexual harassment. When I came home to Australia, I struggled to shake the anxiety, which made me incredibly tense, neurotic and irritable. It took me a couple of years of prayer to overcome my anxiety: it was clear that I was safe, but I was facing mental suggestions that I should hold onto fear to protect myself.
I had the choice of turning to a powerful God who created me free of fear, to a God who made me feel unsafe and fearful, or to no God at all. I chose the first, as praying to know that I am the spiritual creation of a loving God has brought me healing in the past. I had a major light-bulb moment in this case when I realized that the opposite of anxiety is expecting good. I replaced thoughts of fear and anxiety with thoughts of safety and optimism, knowing that an All-Powerful God would always protect His creation. This allowed me to free my thought from fear, and I have felt relaxed and protected ever since.
This is a testimony of how I understand God and myself, and also of how I use Christian Science prayer in facing the challenges in my life. I use the laws that Jesus taught us to overcome limited views of myself, and rid myself of fear in living a peaceful life.
The Christian Science Church – a part of the Canberra community. Members share testimonies and talk about their lives as Christian Scientists. 
The four-hourly doses of morphine were such a welcome relief to the intense pain I was experiencing following major surgery. What could possibly make me give them up?
Step Out of Your Story and into Healing ![article.271029.large[1]](https://christiansciencecanberra.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/article-271029-large1.jpg)
In this hour-long lecture,
This article, A Prayer and a Cat, is by Debbie who is a member of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. She describes how her prayers for the world also resulted in healing for a friend’s cat.
My name is Jen and I am a member of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. I love learning about other people’s religions – I hope that some of you will love learning about mine.
Christian Science Canberra 