Trusting in God

A few weeks ago I went to look after my 3-year-old grandson while the rest of his family went to a wedding.   We spent a happy and energetic Saturday together and he slept well that night.

However during the night I woke up feeling very uncomfortable and nauseous. I prayed through the night, acknowledging that as a child of God and His spiritual reflection, my true being was, and always has been, harmonious and undisturbed but the discomfort didn't seem to improve.

I didn't mention how I was feeling when we all got up and managed to go out with the family for the morning but my tummy continued to feel very unsettled.   Just after lunch my grandson became very unwell so we spent the afternoon at home.  Fear was expressed by his parents that this could possibly be a tummy bug as there seemed to be cases at his nursery.

By now I really felt I wanted to go and lie down and be quiet but practical support was needed looking after the baby in the family and I was due to drive back that evening as I had commitments the following morning. I offered to take the baby out for a walk and was glad to find a bench where I could sit quietly and pray while he slept.

This phrase came into my thought .....'undivorced from truth, uncontaminated and unfettered by human hypotheses and divinely authorised.' (These words are found in the Christian Science Quarterly and are part of the Explanatory Note read before the sermon at Sunday services)

I thought about each word and how it related to the family....

undivorced, unfettered, uncontaminated, divinely authorised.

God, as our Father Mother, loves, protects and guards each one of us and so it follows that as His children, his spiritual reflections, we are divinely authorised and cannot be touched by human hypotheses such as tummy bugs or the fear of contamination associated with them.

I called my husband to explain the situation and asked him to pray with me as I drove home.   My daughter and her husband were still unaware of how I was feeling as I set off.  Fear about how I was going to be able to cope with driving on two busy motorways for a couple of hours, feeling so unwell, almost overwhelmed me so the thought came to me to sing every hymn I could think of from the Christian Science Hymnal. I find the words of these hymns so comforting and have often used them in my prayers when challenges arise.

I started recalling them in alphabetical order and sang as many of the verses as I could, probably not in the correct order or necessarily in perfect tune!  I really don't remember what letter of the alphabet I reached but when I paused for breath I realised that all the discomfort had completely disappeared and my tummy felt settled and normal.

I slept well that night and ate breakfast the following morning. When I called my daughter she said that my grandson had eaten double the breakfast he usually did!

Over the next couple of days I continued to acknowledge that all of us could remain unfettered, uncontaminated and divinely authorised.

In Miscellaneous Writings, Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science writes:

A calm, Christian state of mind is a better preventive of contagion than a drug, or than any other possible sanative method; and the "perfect Love" that "casteth out fear" is a sure defense. (Mis. 229:24)

I was so grateful for this healing, for God's love for us all and for His unfailing protection as there was no recurrence at all.


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