“In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust”…
Patricia C. Waterson with contributions from Mark Zundel-Waterson
“In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust” (Ps. 56:4). These words of the Psalmist express my gratitude for the ways God has blessed my life.
Almost ten years ago a growth appeared on my face. At first I was not alert enough to pray deeply about this condition, and instead thought it would eventually fade away. But it never completely went away, and then about a year later it grew larger and more apparent. I became fearful and realized more concerted prayer was needed.
The question in Science and Health (p. 563) “… why should we stand aghast at nothingness?” helped me see that this condition was not a spiritual reality, and that nothing was beyond God’s control.
I also considered this: “In patient obedience to a patient God, let us labor to dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant of error,—self-will, self-justification, and self-love,—which wars against spirituality and is the law of sin and death” (ibid., p. 242). I endeavored to watch my thinking more carefully, so that there would be greater trust in God’s will and not a tendency toward human will and preoccupation with personal concerns. Such false sentiments as resentment and self-pity I tried diligently to replace with ones of joy and fearlessness. I declared my completeness and perfection as God’s pure and perfect idea, who lacked nothing good or healthy.
Also at this time, a fellow church member related a healing of a similar condition. This encouraged me to keep praying for myself, and I did feel a great peace resulting from my prayers. Soon after, the growth completely disappeared and has never recurred.
There have been many other healings my family and I have had—of earaches, throat conditions, coughs, effects of falls, back problems, relationship difficulties, academic problems, financial challenges, and unemployment.
We are especially grateful to be sharing Christian Science with three children. Our older son had a meaningful healing about six years ago, when he was eleven. He had become ill and missed almost an entire week of school. We called a practitioner to help us pray for him, and we’ll always be grateful for her strong, clear statements of truth at that time. Although this boy’s condition seemed to improve in some ways, by Saturday he could not move his legs. The Bible Lesson that week included the story in Acts in which Peter and John healed a lame beggar at the gate of the temple. My son and I talked about how Peter’s command to the lame man to “rise up and walk” was also relevant to us, and we acknowledged God’s healing truth just as Peter and John had done (see 3:1–9).
While the boy expressed much joy and trust in our prayer that day, I found myself becoming increasingly fearful—not only for him, but for our other two children as well. The practitioner discerned this fear from a conversation, and reminded me that there is no power but God. Our family could receive nothing but blessings when relying on God. These truths effectively destroyed my fear, and soon our son was gaining back mobility.
That evening the practitioner encouraged me to think more about reflection, and how God was seeing each member of our family as reflecting Him. I realized that God saw this son only as His strong, upright, healthy expression, and that God also was seeing me as buoyant, unburdened, and intelligent. I continued to ponder how God was seeing each member of our family as perfect and complete, and felt His presence and power. I had a normal night’s rest.
The next morning our son came bouncing into the kitchen without any trace of the leg problem or the illness. Since then he has been completely free, and is active in many competitive sports.
I am profoundly thankful for the understanding that Christian Science gives of God and man’s relationship to Him. It is the answer to our salvation.
Patricia C. Waterson
Barrington, Illinois
I am the son mentioned in the above testimonyy, and am grateful for my healing. It was complete and the problems have not reoccurred. During the experience, I felt no fear and was completely reliant on God.
Mark Zundel-Waterson