Amazing Results

Yesterday morning the hospice doctor came to visit me. When I left the hospital, because I was considered "terminal" I was put into a hospice program. In this program the doctors and nurses do all they can to make the dying as comfortable as possible. The nurse has come weekly, but this was the doctor's first visit since the day after I came home from the hospital.

The doctor came in, sat down, took one look at me and said "amazing". Without even asking me to take the bandanna off of my neck he could see the unmistakable progress I have made. I told him that the tube that had been implanted in my neck to assist my breathing had started coming out of its own accord, so I'd removed it two months ago. And that I had been breathing normally and unaided since that time. This also seemed to impress him.

Then I told him that I'd changed a tire a few days ago. He said, "Don't do that!"... so I didn't tell him that I'd walked half a mile afterward to a payphone because there hadn't been any air in the spare. (I wrote about that back on Sunday).

Then he asked me to remove the bandanna from my neck. He looked at my neck and said, "Just amazing." This was a great lesson for me. I seldom look at my neck because I always see how much is left to be healed. But what he was seeing was how far I've come.

Then, before he left, he said, "Whatever you've been doing, keep doing it."

Here is proof of the progress I have been reporting in this blog. Christian Science, when properly applied, does heal!

"More Honored in the Breach"

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mary Baker Eddy writes (pg. 382)...

He, who is ignorant of what is termed hygienic law, is more receptive of spiritual power and of faith in one God, than is the devotee of supposed hygienic law, who comes to teach the so-called ignorant one. Must we not then consider the so-called law of matter a canon "more honored in the breach than the observance"? A patient thoroughly booked in medical theories is more difficult to heal through Mind than one who is not. This verifies the saying of our Master: "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein."

That got me to wondering, how can a canon ("a regulation or dogma decreed by a church council" according to Miriam-Webster) be more honored by breaching (breaking) it than by following it? To understand this better I looked up the source she is quoting. It is from the play "Hamlet" by William Shakespear. The explanation on enotes is very interesting.

Hamlet is explaining to someone that it is a local custom to drink and carouse late into the night. But he further says that although he's a native of the region he considers it more homorable to break this custom that to follow it.

Mrs. Eddy is pointing out that it isn't wise to obsess over the supposed laws of matter, but to ignore them in favor of the law of God, Spirit. Although she uses the term "hygenic law" she isn't telling us to stop bathing or brushing our teeth. She is telling us not to give these activities power over our bodies... not to fear that omitting to do them occasionally will result in illness.

As I've worked to spiritualize my thought and rise to a fuller understanding of my being as spiritual, it has become painfully obvious to me what a popular custom it is to discuss medical issues in social gatherings. I'm sorry to say that more and more it is making me feel a need to avoid participating in gatherings with my friends. Hopefully I'll reach a point in my spiritual progress where I can be exposed to it without taking it into my consciousness. But as my healing progresses, I really feel I need to avoid conversations about medicine and such.

Flat Tire on Sunday

Yesterday I woke up tired. I think I'd played online too late the night before. But I was determined that no suggestion of fatigue could keep me from church. I got out early and ran a couple of errands. Then headed in the direction of church. But while fatigue couldn't keep me from church, a flat tire could and did.

Changing the tire was a challenge, but the biggest challenge was lifting the flat to mount it on the tire carrier on the back of my car. I became quite light headed for a moment. But I declared that God was my Life and that whatever strength I had came from Him. This declaration of spiritual truth gave me the lift that I needed, and shortly I succeeded in the task.

Of course I then found that the spare had no air in it. Because there had been a cover on the spare, apparently no one ever checked it when I took the car in for regular service. I had to walk about half a mile to a pay phone to call for help. A friend came and, after a quick visit to Pep Boys to purchase a compressor that runs off the car's battery, we inflated the tire. By then church had been over for 20 minutes.

Oh well... I'll make it next week.

Confessions of a Gamer

Last Friday I downloaded the ten day free trial for World of Warcraft. As a long time player of Everquest, I have to confess that I missed the virtual fantasy world. But Everquest was a frustrating game to play. It's impossible to advance at higher levels without help. It was only with the help of a player whose character was names Zabbaz that I ever saw any of the high-end game. Besides help, it takes persistence and patience to play Everquest. That's why most of the kids have left it, and those remaining loyal to EQ are mostly older players.

So far World of Warcraft isn't nearly as frustrating as Everquest. I'm enjoying the game very much. I consider the joy it brings me to be part of my healing. I am still studying Christian Science daily. And while playing, I listen to recordings of hymns and lectures. So my healing work is continuing, confident in God's promise.

A Mistaken Basis

As I've told you, I've been posting less because I've been busy. Ironically, I became so obsessed with the things I was accomplishing as demonstration of my healing that I was working from a mistaken basis. This is plain in my previous post where I talk about all the things I had to do.

Jesus said, "The Son can do nothing of himself..." but, even though my Christian Science Nurse friend warned me that God was responsible for all these arrangements, I worked from the mistaken basis that I was responsible. As a result, I exhausted myself.

Since my last post I have slept more hours than I've been awake. But in my waking hours I have been making a sincere effort to get back to the study and prayer habits of the early days of my healing. There is still much work to be done... not cooking and cleaning work (though that's always necessary), but prayerful study work. And I'm grateful to God for the opportunity to pursue it.