A Christian Science healing

For many years I suffered from travel sickness. When we traveled by car, my family was always kind, allowing me to sit near a window. In later years, when I frequently traveled by airplane, I pampered myself with special foods. But there was no lasting solution. I had a fear of travel sickness, and the problem persisted. What I really needed was permanent healing.

Healing in Christian Science goes to the root of the trouble, showing us that , in the most fundamental sense, what needs healing is a misconception of God and man. This is accomplished by humbly seeking to understand more of God's true nature and living in accord with that understanding. The inevitable effect of this humble turning to God is greater all-around harmony in our lives.

Christian Science healing is not a technique of mind over matter. Rather, it results from a clear perception that God, the one divine Mind, is the only power , and that He maintains the perfection of man, His spiritual likeness. It comes from feeling the presence of God, Love, which dissolves fear and the discord associated with it.

In my situation, then, the most important thing was not where I sat or what I ate but what I understood of God. To be permanently healed I needed to know Him better.

As I began praying to know more of God, two false beliefs, two misconceptions , stood out. I was believing that God is not everywhere (that His love can't be felt in a car or an airplane) and that He does not govern man at all times (hence man can get sick and be outside God's loving care). I needed to discern that God is both ever present and omnipotent.

Spiritual truths found in the Bible rebuked these false beliefs. For example, the Psalmist cried: ''Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.'' n1 The Bible clearly points to the fact that God is all-powerful and omnipresent.

n1 Psalms 139:7-10.

Through prayer I was being guided to a truer conception of Him. I was putting off a worldly, limited perception of almighty Love. The healing had begun.

During my next few flights I tried to pray with these new insights into God's nature. But I found my thoughts continually turning to myself. I kept dwelling on my own fear of sickness, my own body, my own hardships in travel. Other verses from the same psalm articulated my desire: ''Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me , and lead me in the way everlasting.'' n2

n2 Psalms 139:23,24.

The very act of turning to God in prayer was bringing another false element to the surface - selfishness. The ''wicked way'' in me was that I was just concerned about myself, instead of loving God. I needed to see that God hadn't made two types of man - one spiritual and loving, the other material and selfish - but just one. And that one is His image. Because God is Love, as the Bible teaches, His offspring is loving. Because God is Spirit, as the Scriptures also tell us, His offspring is spiritual.

I could see that God creates His children to express His nature, which is loving and pure. This was the truth about me.

As these truths dawned in my thought, a change took place. While traveling, I began thinking less of myself and my needs and more of others. I found myself naturally helping the stewardesses, children, and handicapped. The spiritual understanding I discovered in the teachings of the Bible was making me more unselfish, more Godlike. As a result, the sickness was completely healed. The Christian Science textbook, by Mary Baker Eddy, n3 states, ''We should forget our bodies in remembering good and the human race.'' n4 This is just what happened to me.

n3 The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.

n4 Science and health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 261.

Not too long after this healing I held a job that involved considerable air travel. I never suffered again from travel sickness.

Discovering more of God's omnipotence and the true nature of man freed me from the false beliefs that underlay the illness. And in this way I felt the full benefit of Christian Science healing, which made me better morally as well as physically. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved; for thou art my praise. Jeremiah 17:14