No fear in love
The connection that a person's thoughts have to health and healing is becoming more and more obvious. One of the most satisfying things in my life is to see proof of how God, who is divine Love, destroys fear of all kinds - and heals.
The Apostle John said this: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear" (I John 4:18).
This idea is a central one in the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science in 1866. She healed many people through prayer. On the basis of her own experience she wrote, "If you succeed in wholly removing the fear, your patient is healed" ("Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," pgs. 411-412).
Cordelia Willey, a woman who'd been an invalid for 10 years, took a class on how to pray, taught by Mrs. Eddy in 1888. In her reminiscences she recalled: "One day at the close of the Class I told Mrs. Eddy that I was so afraid, just full of fear, instantly came the question, 'My dear, what are you afraid of?' and I told her I did not know just what the fear was; for an instant she stood still and then said, 'You know, God is Love.' I was healed and that sense of fear has never returned" ("Mary Baker Eddy - Christian Healer." Boston: The Christian Science Publishing Society, 1998, pg. 268).
Those words, "You know, God is Love," were more than just something comforting spoken from one person to another. Simple good words don't heal disease. Behind those words was a comprehension of the fact that the God who is perfect, divine Love is All. It is the power, the law, of Love that heals. The power of God is brought into operation when our thought yields to Love's omnipresence and omnipotence.
Science and Health makes another strong point about the healing of fear: "Every trial of our faith in God makes us stronger. The more difficult seems the material condition to be overcome by Spirit [God], the stronger should be our faith and the purer our love" (pg. 410).
One night my son was stricken with croup. He was coughing and in a panic because he could hardly breathe. I felt panicky, too. We reassured him and made him comfortable, and he quieted down a bit. Humbly, I turned to God in prayer.
In order to help myself pray, I turned to the Bible and Science and Health. I didn't read them alone, however. I really tried to embrace divine Life and Love - God - and ask His help as I read. Although I didn't feel any less fearful for a while, I persisted with all my heart. I just had to keep praying. I could feel God with me as I read so many wonderful facts about His being All. For example: "I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me" (Isa. 45:5). Slowly, I started to feel that I had no reason to be afraid, because God is good, the divine Life, the only presence.
I kept at my prayer for my son for a few hours, allowing the law and presence of God to punch through the fear. And finally, I felt peace. Then I read, "Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious - as Life eternally is - can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not" (Science and Health, pg. 495).
To a degree, with God's help, I had seen that He is eternally harmonious and good. That my son was the expression, the evidence, of God's nature. That he was made perfect by God for eternity, and that no fear, no disease, could change that.
By this time my son was sleeping soundly. As I lay down near him, he woke up for a moment and made a joke about something. Fear was gone. And in the morning he was himself again, completely well. We were to travel over 2,000 miles on two plane flights the following day. He was thrilled to go, and laughed and played the whole time.
"If you succeed in wholly removing the fear, your patient is healed." That is exactly what happened. Neither he nor I could feel both fear and God's love at the same time.
The Christian Science Journal, published monthly, contains in-depth articles about God's healing power.
(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society