“… the pain in my chest disappeared, and it has never returned”

As we all adjust to the fact that Skip has progressed on to a greater experience of divine reality and divine Love, below is a healing that shows how the teachings of the Association continue in consciousness and weave a constant thread of comfort and instruction through our lives.

Recently, I have been thinking of the tender care Jesus expressed toward his students as he himself was preparing for the crucifixion and beyond. Jesus was aware that the ensuing disturbing events looming on the horizon would greatly challenge his disciples and all of his followers. Pondering Jesus’ special attentiveness to his disciples as the crucifixion drew near, I was deeply touched. He knew exactly who would betray him, who would be faithful, who would be fearful and challenged, and who would fall away. His instructions warned them of the attempted disruption to peace, security, and progress. He affirmed to them that good could not be destroyed, and that his teachings would not only live on in thought but increase the understanding of the disciples. Jesus reassured them that a Comforter would be forever present in their lives: “But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26) I believe all of us have already experienced the special love and shepherding of the Comforter since Skip has gone on. The presence of the Comforter in our lives is the fulfilment of Jesus’ departing prayer, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through [the disciples’] word.” (John 17:20) The following healing is one such example of the Comforter active in consciousness.

One day last fall I decided to take a walk in a beautiful park near my home. About halfway through the walk I started to experience a growing pain in a strange location of my hip. Not thinking much of it I continued my walk all the while denying in thought any validity to pain. However, as I continued walking, the difficulty grew steadily and rather quickly, so that by the time I reached my car, I could barely walk or get into the car without excruciating pain. I managed to drive the short distance home and get myself to bed in order to rest and pray. In the morning I called a practitioner as I was only able to get around with the use of a walker. Over the course of the night the pain had moved from one hip to the other, making it quite clear that the challenge was completely mental and not physical. I had not injured myself by falling, tripping or twisting anything, and that added to the conviction that the problem was mental, as it always is. I don’t remember the exact sequence of events or the course in the development of thought, but thus began a six-month journey toward healing. I do know that I prayed deeply and thoroughly with the lesson every day, usually working with the Bible Lens notes and sometimes taking hours to do so. I grew in the beautiful conviction of God’s loving care for me every day. I was especially drawn to the concept of God’s covenant with His beloved children, in which He kept constant watch over them, providing protection, guidance, and fulfilling every need. In return they promised to keep his commandments. I loved the idea that this covenant was binding in a legal sense and is still active today. This was especially poignant since I had recently been forced to quit my job for ethical reasons and was living on savings I had accumulated while employed. I spent much time being grateful for the provision I did have which enabled me to commune more closely with God in this special way. Often during this period, I would work with the practitioner with the fact that animal magnetism had no power to impede or stop progress, as this was a very aggressive claim in thought. While still in some pain I would attempt some cleaning around the house. Then suddenly out of nowhere I would experience an attack of great pain, abnormal fatigue and/or extreme weakness. This would incapacitate me for 1 or 2 days. The practitioner and I would pray to know that animal magnetism could not come out of nowhere to attack because it does not exist, and nowhere is not a real location from which to attack or reside. It’s all just a bunch of powerless nothing. It did not have the power to “take me out,” so to speak. This was nothing but error’s hatred of and attempt to impede spiritual activity. 

As I continued to pray, I was comforted by reading Skip’s articles and immensely grateful that he had the foresight to have them bound for us several years ago. In his article, “Who knows enough to heal?” Skip explains that this is “… a question that confronts most of us in one form or another....The reason the question is so prevalent is that it’s the perennial question of a mind that believes it resides in matter. This may be less a real question than a habitual attitude.” 

Continuing, the article affirms “…that Spirit always knows enough. And man as the expression of Spirit knows enough. In terms of human experience, we could say that anyone who is letting go of the belief of a self in matter for the actuality of the one Mind that is God will know enough to heal.” This article squelched the suggestion that I was failing as a Christian Scientist since this healing was taking a long time. The claim that my God-given purpose and activity could be attacked and taken from me had loomed in thought for many years; and here I was dealing with it again. However, this time the claim came in the form of a physical challenge. 

During this prayerful time, many of Skip’s articles magnified divine reality and brought greater clarity to thought. After a while the attacks of illness became less severe and less frequent. The pain in my hip decreased immensely to the point of being negligible. I was able to walk without a walker and move my hip and leg in ways that had previously been very painful. Soon, I was able to fulfill a physically active schedule during the day. The healing came to a head about three weeks ago after having a very demanding few days changing out all of the furniture in my home office to make it more functional. As I worked late into the night setting up the electronics for the computer and the phone, I was very happy to find everything up and running the first time around. I had a brand new office, and it was now functional! Internally I was doing my “happy dance,” so I retired for the night. But when I sat on the bed, I experienced a very sharp chest pain right over my heart. Mortal mind was shouting, “Sorry you don’t get to be happy!”  I applied some cursory metaphysical truth and thought, “I’ll feel better in the morning after I get some rest.” Well, in the morning I did not feel one bit better! The aggressive suggestion loomed that I was having a mild heart attack! Immediately I remembered Skip’s many comments about animal magnetism’s impersonal resistance to progress. I called the practitioner, and again we affirmed that animal magnetism had no reality, identity, nor activity from which to attack and stop progress! In the course of the conversation the pain in my chest disappeared, and it has never returned. I have since been able to carry out full and demanding schedules with much activity and without pain or illness of any kind. 

During this healing I felt the tenderness of the Christ instructing and guiding me with the teachings I had benefited from over all these years. It certainly did “teach [me] all things and bring all things to [my] remembrance, whatsoever [Skip had] said unto [us].” (John 14:26)  I am so grateful that the teaching continues on...forever!