Experiencing a change of heart

With Association Day approaching, I found myself worrying that I had nothing to share with our members and blaming myself for not being a more effective Christian Scientist. But as I worked with the references for this year’s address, I recognized that the belief of not having experienced healing was simply a form of animal magnetism. As Skip assures us, “Suggestions of lack of healing are not our own thoughts, but the imposition of the carnal mind” (“How to stop thinking thoughts that are not our own,” Sentinel, October 28, 1985). I soon realized that I did, indeed, have a healing that was worth sharing.

Last fall, I began experiencing shortness of breath and frequent, sharp chest pains that sometimes kept me awake at night. I found the symptoms alarming, particularly because both of my parents had suffered from heart failure.

I worked for myself for a while, but events in my branch church, where I was serving as Second Reader, were making me feel discouraged. When the condition did not yield, I called a trusted practitioner, who immediately agreed to pray with me. Over the next month, she was very supportive and shared a number of helpful ideas.

One particularly meaningful reference was Mrs. Eddy’s answer to the question, “Do you believe in change of heart?” It states, “there must be a change from human affections, desires, and aims to the divine standard ‘Be ye therefore perfect’; also,….there must be a change from the belief that the heart is matter and sustains life, to the understanding that God is our Life, that we exist in Mind, live thereby, and have being. This change of heart would deliver man from heart-disease, and advance Christianity a hundredfold” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 50:22–27).

My practitioner also shared these ideas from Mrs. Eddy’s unpublished writings (in the church archives): “Remember this fixed fact: You have no material heart. Your heart God gave you, and He governs all its functions. It cannot cease to act so long as God acts, for it is His reflection of Love. Let alone all sense of anatomy, and hold this true consciousness of yourself….”

She also shared some ideas that Mrs. Eddy gave to Laura Lathrop, which healed her: “Hurrying cannot affect the heart. It cannot beat like a trip-hammer nor perform its functions with difficulty. Hurrying cannot produce heart trouble. There are no unsound hearts. There is no slow nor hurried motion to the heart, no shortness of breath ascending stairs.” 

I worked with these ideas for a number of weeks. Although I did not have a specific “breakthrough moment,” by Christmas the chest pains had ceased and I felt a sense of peace. I am so very grateful for the support of the practitioner and for this proof of the efficacy of Christian Science.