Healed of chronic back pain

by Rex Perschnick
from the Christian Science Sentinel, April 13, 2015

Several years ago I came across an article about a man who, despite being seriously ill, selflessly undertook to help others, and in doing so, he himself found healing. As I recall it, his whole experience seemed to be evidence of the healing power of unselfed love—and of the truth of this statement by Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:“Christianity is the basis of true healing. Whatever holds human thought in line with unselfed love, receives directly the divine power” (p. 192).

A few months later, my dad called me after a snowstorm to tell me that several trees had come down with the heavy snow. Some of them were lying on the roof of his garage, while others were across the access road to his home, preventing him from getting out or getting help.

At the time I had for several years been having great difficulty with my back. I was unable to straighten up when I walked or do any heavy lifting without pain. It was then that I thought again about the healing power of unselfed love.

I knew that I had to do something to help my dad, so I told him that I would come and do whatever I could. I thought of unselfed love as a total giving of oneself with no thought of reward or consequence. It was a gift that I wanted to give to my dad. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do to help or how I would do it, but I knew that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

The five-hour drive to my dad’s was difficult with my back, and I arrived very stiff and sore. That night, as I lay in bed, I thought of all the work the next morning. I prayed to know that God was my source of strength and that I could do all things through Him.

When I awoke the next morning, I literally bounced out of bed. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so energetic, with absolutely no pain. I felt strong and ready to do whatever Dad needed me to do. I got dressed and informed him I was ready.

We cut trees and hauled limbs to the burn piles for two to three days, and then continued to burn for another day to clean up. Only once did I have some discomfort, and I knew it was just a suggestion of mortal mind, or what the Apostle Paul calls the “carnal mind” (Romans 8:7), trying to get a hook in me; and I dismissed it as unreal. I affirmed God’s omnipotence and continued the work once again pain-free.

At the end of each day Dad would just look at me. He knew how bad my back had been all those years, and he had real difficulty reconciling the work I was doing with my past condition. I kept reassuring him that I had no pain, and I finished the work with complete freedom of movement.

In the years since, Dad and I have had many discussions about my back healing, which has been permanent. He insists that it was a miracle. I have explained to him that it wasn’t a miracle in the sense that most people understand the word; it was a natural result of knowing that God created us spiritually, and that we are His perfect and eternal reflection. God didn’t create us materially, with a limited warranty. Dad listens but shakes his head and then acknowledges his gratitude for the help that I, through God, was able to give him that time and many other times.

Before this healing I had read Science and Health and had done some studying of Christian Science, but I was not a member of The Mother Church, or a local branch of the Church. Since this healing I have become a member of both.

That passage from Science and Health about the healing power of unselfed love continues to speak to me. Before this healing, whenever I walked or stood, I leaned to one side with what appeared to be poor posture. I have stood straight and without pain ever since the healing. I am convinced that this healing is evidence of the healing Christ, the spirit of divine Love, which comes to our consciousness, revealing the harmony and freedom that we continuously express as children of God. This healing has been a benchmark in my practice of Christian Science, and it always reminds me of God’s omnipotence and love for all.

This article was published in the April 13, 2015 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel. To learn more about this weekly inspirational magazine, published online and in print, visit HERE.