In the fall of 2008, an unsightly growth appeared on my forehead. I’d witnessed and experienced healings of illness, injury, loss, and other challenges in our family throughout my life, and it was natural to turn first to Christian Science prayer-based treatment. I also called a Christian Science practitioner for support.
However, as the growth got bigger, so did my fear, which prompted me to see a dermatologist. A biopsy was performed, and I was told that this was skin cancer, caused by heredity and prior sun damage. Radiation or surgery was given as options for removal. Surgery was scheduled with a specialist because the doctor felt the growth was too large for him to remove, and that plastic surgery might also be required.
As this information was being presented, an angel message of spiritual strength assured me that I did have a third, and better, choice. It became clear to me that medical options offer a temporary material fix, whereas metaphysical healing through Christian Science provides a permanent spiritual solution. Fear, self-condemnation, and family members’ concerns had seemed to be reasons to seek a medical diagnosis. I now know that there needed to be much more alertness every day, on my part, to what Mary Baker Eddy referred to as “animal magnetism,” the idea that there is a power at work in our lives opposed to God.
Meeting and speaking with the Christian Science practitioner again on a regular basis gave me a renewed sense of my spiritual identity, and the confidence to cancel the surgery. The medical staff called, concerned about the canceled appointment, but I assured them that I was in good care and relying on Christian Science treatment. I knew that healing was going on, and felt more and more confident that I could totally trust and yield to the power of God’s love and care.
For about three months, with help from the practitioner, both theories of heredity and irreversible sun damage were prayerfully addressed head-on. Many articles from the early Sentinels and Christian Science Journals were shared, and the CD Anthology of Classic Articles was my companion in the car. I especially enjoyed Louise Knight Wheatley’s article “The smell of fire.” In the article, residual symptoms related to past history are identified as the false belief that error did happen, and has a history. Trust in the one God delivers us from fiery trials of false beliefs, without a hint of damage, no sting, no remembrance of anything ungodlike ever existing, just as it did for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Bible (see Daniel, chapter 3). Always walking with us, as in the furnace, is the redeeming, comforting Christ-presence.
