From Darkness Into Light

THERE'S no situation so dark that it can't be penetrated by the light of God's love. My husband and I had a happy marriage and a fine, healthy son. My second pregnancy, however, ended in a miscarriage. And when our next boy was born with a severe case of spina bifida, and lived only a month or so, my life seemed darker than ever. The fourth baby also had spina bifida, and underwent surgery. The doctors advised us to have no more children, and we agreed to this sad prohibition. We felt we could sta nd no more heartbreak.

Then a dear friend told me about Christian Science. I knew nothing about it, but I was willing to look into it. I began to read The Christian Science Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel. Then the friend lent us a copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy. What I read seemed so logical and good that I continued to read. Gradually the Bible's promises began to seem more alive to me.

During the second year of my study, I began to put into practice what I was reading and found that healing resulted. At first I wasn't confident enough to pray on my own for anything other than simple problems, like a fever sore on my lip-which disappeared in a few hours. I called a more experienced Christian Scientist when problems seemed more severe to me.

One day, however, the friend I usually called on wasn't home, and I had to tackle a severe problem on my own. I went to the bedside of one child, who was ill, and opened Science and Health. There I read: ''Maintain the facts of Christian Science,-that Spirit is God, and therefore cannot be sick; that what is termed matter cannot be sick; that all causation is Mind, acting through spiritual law. Then hold your ground with the unshaken understanding of Truth and Love, and you will win'' (p. 417). When ever he needed me, I would tend the child. And then I'd pick up the book and read this passage and pray. So back and forth I went, and I did win. In an hour or so the vomiting and diarrhea he was experiencing had stopped. The child was healed.

As I continued to study Christian Science and to learn more of God and of man in His image and likeness, I remember standing Science and Health on the ironing board and memorizing passages from it as I ironed. One I especially love is Mrs. Eddy's answer to the question ''What is the scientific statement of being?'' This statement is Christian Science in a nutshell. It reads: ''There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, fo r God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual'' (p. 468).

And the Bible tells us in First John: ''Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is'' (3:1, 2).

The healings that our family had, both as a result of our own prayer and when we asked for help from another Christian Scientist, gave us assurance that God, divine Love, would care for us in every situation. We still very much wanted another child. So with the confidence we had gained from understanding something of the law of God, my husband and I decided to have another baby. There were many problems early in the pregnancy. Soon I began to be nauseated even during the night. I had my husband ca ll a friend for prayerful help early one morning. The nausea stopped immediately-never to return.

From then on, the pregnancy was a normal one, and I was happy and free. In due time, a healthy, normal baby boy was born. He was a happy child and a joy to us. He grew to manhood. His very presence reminded us of how completely the light of God's love had dispelled every vestige of darkness or sadness.