“Friends, our progress may be fast or it may be slow, but one thing is certain, it will be sure, if we are obedient to the loving counsel of our ever faithful Leader” (Willis Gross, President of The Mother Church, 1906, My 44:7). In the time I have been here, I have seen how all patients and staff members have been greatly blessed by the obedience, grace and goodness Heather Beck brought to her work as the Director of Christian Science Nursing. I am very grateful for all that Heather has done to support Christian Science healing at Fern Lodge.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, wrote, “In Christian Science there is never a retrograde step, never a return to positions outgrown,” (SH 74:29). In my work as a Christian Science nurse, I have seen many examples of progress and healing at Fern Lodge. God knows each of His children as whole, complete, perfect, and a realization of this fact heals. As Christian Scientists we expect, and have witnessed, immediate healings of disease, illness, effects of accidents, and mental disorders. But sometimes patience and ongoing trust in God’s guidance seem needed during what appears as healing progress. One experience in particular reminded me that the loving care of our staff is effective and appreciated in such cases.
Some time ago, a patient at another facility came to Fern Lodge after injuring her hip. It appeared that the patient was so eager to return home that she kept getting up and aggravating the injury. So we helped to arrange for the patient to get an x-ray. In doing this, it became clear that the patient was afraid of going to a doctor. She asked for help from a Christian Science practitioner, and she was reassured that no harm could come to her for taking any temporary steps that would support her. As Mrs. Eddy wrote in Miscellany, “Remember, thou canst be brought into no condition, be it ever so severe, where Love has not been before thee and where its tender lesson is not awaiting thee” (My 149:31).
Throughout the experience, it was apparent that Love prepared the way. The nurse who greeted her said, “Christian Science, that’s why I’m a nurse! My grandmother healed me through Christian Science and ever since then I wanted to be a nurse.” When the doctor examined the patient, he said that her hip was healing. He told her that she needed to listen to the Christian Science nurses and that they would help her to get up when she was ready. In a few days she was able to start walking, and within a short time, she was healed.
The Christian Science nurses at Fern Lodge are supportive, thoughtful, and loving aids to the patients’ progress. In this case, they helped to alleviate her fear, showed her practical steps she needed to walk, and supported her in being wise about how to progress as quickly as possible, all while praying to see the patient whole—healed—every day. In short, they lovingly fulfilled the requirements of Christian Science nursing.
In thinking about progress in our healing work, I find this statement from our Leader to be helpful:
“If we work to become Christians as honestly and as directly upon a divine Principle, and adhere to the rule of this Principle as directly as we do to the rule of mathematics, we shall be Christian Scientists, and do more than we are now doing, and progress faster than we are now progressing,” (Hea 8:24).
Thank you for your loving support of Fern Lodge.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][:]