Spiritually trained in this dear Science

Recently I had a few wonderful days of skiing where I felt so in tune with God’s goodness. Then bang – I had a sudden attack of an illness that seemed to be attacking numerous people. In addition to the illness, there had been an altercation with my son in which he screamed at me and then stopped communicating with me. I was astounded by this behavior.

I held onto the perfect image of God’s creation that I had witnessed while skiing and would like to say that I was fine, but that was not the case. When I was unable to heal myself, I asked for support from a dear friend who is a Christian Scientist. As usual, she was right there, willing to help. She addressed both the illness and the relationship problem, reminding me that I should not be “astounded at the vigorous claims of evil” (Science and Health 130:29–30).

The claim of illness was stubborn. I became discouraged and also began to feel a sense of aging. I thought, Maybe I’m falling apart. Maybe I’m missing something or not relevant anymore. But as I read the Bible Lesson and Christian Science literature more carefully and listened to the podcasts of healing my friend sent me, I was able to recognize that the lying suggestions of illness, aging, and inharmony just weren’t true about me or my son.

As I was walking the dog, the clear thought came that I was well. Even though I still felt the symptoms, I knew that I was healed. A few hours later, I went for a 3.5 mile walk and was refreshed. Each day the symptoms became less and less until they vanished. I still needed to get a clearer understanding of my relationship with my son. My friend reminded me that this conflict was not a problem to be solved. Instead, it was a chance to gain clearer views of what is real. I worked with the idea of Principle as the operative All. As Mary Baker Eddy writes, “It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony” (Science and Health 390:7–9).

My friend also reminded me that as an Association member, I have been spiritually trained to witness what is true about my son and myself. I loved the idea of being “spiritually trained.” Yes, our dear teacher did train us to “look beyond fading, finite forms if [we] would gain the true sense of things” (Science and Health 264:7–8).

While I was waiting for a routine appointment, I heard a voice say, “What are you doing here?” It was my son acting in a normal way. Nothing was mentioned about the former unpleasantness, and the claim was broken. I was very pleased about the interaction, but I still felt resentment. Again, my friend and I worked to dissolve the lie that I could have resentment of any kind. There is no resentment in Principle.

Later my son had to come to my home to drop off my daughter’s dog. I offered him something to drink. As we were talking, he brought up our altercation and apologized in the sweetest way. He even suggested we go to church on Easter and then come to his house for a lovely meal and Easter egg hunt. All discord melted away.

God is so good and I am blessed to know that we are, indeed, spiritually trained in this dear Science!