A few weeks ago my wife and I decided to go camping with some friends in the mountains. I love the outdoors and was really looking forward to the trip. We also planned on doing a little hiking. Shortly after we had arrived I remembered that the last time I had come up to these parts I had to battle the belief of poison oak. Of course I prayed about the last experience and it did not spread as it has in the past, and did disappear eventually. This time however, I felt that I should handle this fear before we went out hiking. I prayed about it and started to glimpse the idea that nothing in God’s creation could be poisonous, not could any one God made to reflect him be subject to anything poisonous. As I prayed the thought came to me, “Can God get poison oak?” Of course not! Than neither could I.
I held to this and worked with an idea from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, which reads, “When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious — as Life eternally is — can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not. Let Christian Science, instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence discord with harmony.” Science and Health pg. 495
The next morning we had a very inspired lesson study of the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, (the textbook on Christian Science healing), and I felt full of love, joy, and peace. As we headed out on the hike I reaffirmed the truth about God and our protection from harm under His government. The trail started out very narrow at the beginning and there were plants that resembled the poison oak I had been working to protect myself from. As we prompted along I continued to pray, not just for myself, but for our whole group to be protected by God’s loving care. We had a wonderful hike.
A few days after we returned home, I noticed the signs of this disease manifest itself on my hand. It started to itch and as I was at work I unconsciously began to scratch at it. As soon as I realized what was going on I stopped and prayed. I knew that this was not a part of the everlasting harmony of Soul, God, and that it could not affect me in any way. I was tempted to look at it often and see if it was spreading but each time I did, I clung “steadfastly to God and His idea” [my perfect selfhood in his likeness]. By the next day all irritation was gone. The rash the had begun had disappeared, and I was left with the grateful assurance that “… with God, all things are possible.” Mat. 19:26
