Painful lump healed

Recently I had an experience which again showed me that the whole purpose of life is to glorify God—to see what God is and to know that He is reflected everywhere.

A hard and painful lump appeared near my eye, which resulted in the whole eye being swollen. This condition turned me to God. From childhood I’ve learned that God is ever-present Love, the Father-Mother, who is always with us and comforts us with divine reality. I’ve learned to trust divine Love as omnipotent in all challenges, big and small.

Turning (often running) to my Father-Mother in times of distress, I’ve had healings of a sprained ankle, broken marriage, hay fever, stomach virus, heart condition, mental disturbance, and more.

I immediately recognized that this latest situation had nothing to do with God. It was un-Godlike—nothing like the perfection of Spirit. I knew I didn’t need to fear any suggestion that I could include impurity, because I was God’s beloved child, and as such, my substance was pure and perfect. I saw this as nothing more than a lie about my relationship to God, and what was really going on was an opportunity to see a new view of God and myself.

For the first day or so of praying there was no change, and so I decided to ask a Christian Science friend and practitioner to pray for me and support me. She directed my thought to the fact that I “have the face of God”—meaning not a literal face: that I reflect all of His qualities, such as joy, innocence, harmony, and wholeness. It reminded me of an experience with my little daughter when she was three years old.

She and I had had a clash of wills, and I found it necessary to pray to see better what I needed to know to resolve the situation. It came to me that she was the expression of God, and in fact, both of us were—that His expression is a “smile,” not a “grimace.” The showdown was immediately gone. I went back to playing with her, and only harmony remained.

I applied this same truth to my present situation. I recognized that God was pleased with what He is and does, and as that expressed idea of Spirit, I radiated perfect harmony and beauty, not pain and ugliness.

That afternoon I had a meeting to attend, as well as a gathering with my family in the evening. I continued to pray, remaining confident that only that which God expresses can be seen or felt. No one remarked about any distortion in my face.

The following day I was to travel overseas on a 24-hour flight. Although my husband became aware of my situation, I assured him of my prayers and confidence in healing. Throughout that long flight I constantly prayed and affirmed that God maintained me as His reflection, eternally perfect like Him. The “smile” and the “smiler” could never be separate. They were not two entities, but one. God was All, and I showed forth His praise—His eternal and divinely joyous expression of Himself.

Rejoicing in this truth, I gave little regard to the physical condition and actually felt quite happy. The condition gradually faded away, and by the time we arrived at our destination, my face was normal.

I continued to hold to this wonderful spiritual fact of my inseparability from God for the whole of our visit that week—a fact seen and never to be let go. As St. Paul wrote, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (I Cor. 6:20).

Lesley Ann Mascall | Mona Vale, New South Wales, Australia