Forgiveness led me to know God
As we learn that God’s goodness is practical, we gain the confidence to claim it in any aspect of life.
One night long before I’d heard of Christian Science, a clear message came to me. It said, “Forgive!” I knew what it meant – that I needed to forgive my ex-husband, who had left me with three babies under the age of two. I listened to this message, and I was genuinely able to forgive him.
Although I had attended church as a child, as I went through my teenage years and into my 20s, I decided there was no God. But the thought to forgive was so clear and powerful that I felt it must have come from God.
Years later, I read this from the Bible: “There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding” (Job 32:8). I realized that the thought to forgive had not only come from God but also served to open my thinking to understand what spiritual life is.
During the next 10 years, I remarried, had more children, and divorced again. But I stayed in touch with a member of this second family, who shared their love of church and Christian Science with me. That individual gave me a Bible and a copy of the Christian Science textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy.
What a gift! I started reading these books and going to the local Christian Science Reading Room, where I took the free literature that was available for people like me who were searching for answers and financially in need. I was striving to put into practice what I was reading in Science and Health and the literature I took home.
My family member helped me to understand that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26), and that I could rely on the truths I was learning.
One day I badly cut my finger while washing a drinking glass. As I bandaged the wound, I asked myself, “Does God know this injury as true about me?” I knew the answer was no because of the ideas I had been reading in Christian Science. I applied them immediately, confident that I could prove that there are no accidents in God’s kingdom.
Science and Health says, “Under divine Providence there can be no accidents, since there is no room for imperfection in perfection” (p. 424). Within a few hours the long cut in my finger went back together, and by the next day, my finger was completely healed and looked as if nothing had happened.
I still struggled, however, to accept the idea that as God’s, Spirit’s, creation, we are each wholly spiritual, because it sure looks and feels as though we are material. Regardless, I persevered in my study of Christian Science. Initially, my approach was to ask why God would make a material person to have all kinds of problems and diseases. But as I understood God better as our loving Father-Mother, I found that God does not make us material and would never hurt His child.
After I had read about 100 pages in Science and Health, my life was changed forever. I remember feeling that I was at a crossroads in my life as I considered whether I should join the branch Church of Christ, Scientist, that I was attending. As I prayed, I felt I was being directed to join the church.
I joined the branch church and The Mother Church (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston) and took Primary class instruction with a teacher of Christian Science, all within a year and a half of standing at that crossroads.
I did not marry again, so I am especially grateful to have had Christian Science to support my family and to know that God is my children’s Father as well as mine. My children and I have experienced many healings over the years, and we have all gone on to lead happy lives.
Mrs. Eddy wrote, “The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea, – perfect God and perfect man, – as the basis of thought and demonstration” (Science and Health, p. 259). This truth is my constant companion and guide. I have had to face many challenges, but God has never left my side or my thought. Through relying on God’s love to guide me, I have been led to jobs, homes, and funds that I had never thought possible.
I am so thankful for learning of this healing religion.
Adapted from an article published in the Jan. 1, 2024, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.