Heart trouble healed

It was a perfect fall day for a run—sunny and cool—at a particularly stressful time in my life. Running in a nearby nature preserve offered both quiet reflection and a welcome opportunity to refocus thought.

Then, without warning, I began experiencing symptoms of heart trouble. I stopped immediately and turned wholeheartedly to God, Spirit, affirming His ever-presence and my unbroken unity with Him as His spiritual image and likeness. I began a slow walk toward home, which was about a mile away. The condition didn’t immediately improve, and I considered whether it might be wise to call an ambulance.

While there are no prohibitions in the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy—the governing By-Laws of The Church of Christ, Scientist—on seeking medical help, I recognized that medical treatment might increase my fear and result in restrictions on activities I deeply enjoyed, such as running on a cool fall day. More importantly, I had had many healings through prayer as taught in Christian Science, and despite my current discomfort, I was confident that I would soon be completely well.

Since I could keep walking, and the condition wasn’t worsening, I continued. I also decided that if I became overwhelmed by fear or doubt, I would call a Christian Science practitioner—someone devoted to healing through prayer. During the thirty-minute walk, I repeated “the scientific statement of being” given in the Christian Science textbook (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 468) and prayed the Lord’s Prayer, focusing thought on my true identity as spiritual, not material or vulnerable to discord of any kind.

When I reached home, a familiar spiritual truth came to thought—something I had often heard my grandmother, a Christian Science practitioner, share when praying for others who had heart conditions: “Life is not dependent upon heart; heart is dependent upon Life.”

As I embraced the truth of that statement—that Life, God, sustains all being, wholly independent of matter—peace flooded my thought, and my condition instantly normalized.

This simple idea carries profound meaning. In Christian Science, we are taught to think from cause to effect, a point made in this statement from Science and Health: “We reason imperfectly from effect to cause, when we conclude that matter is the effect of Spirit; but a priori reasoning shows material existence to be enigmatical” (p. 467). Pondering my grandmother’s statement corrected any temptation to accept the false reasoning that life is dependent upon a material heart. As Life—a synonym for God—is eternal, self-existent, and wholly spiritual, it is not governed by a biological organ but instead governs every function of our existence.

Through this “a priori reasoning,” I saw that the first use of the word heart in my grandmother’s statement refers to the physical organ, and the second carries a metaphysical meaning. The Glossary of Science and Health defines heart as “mortal feelings, motives, affections, joys, and sorrows” (p. 587). The words “heart is dependent upon Life” lift thought to a higher, spiritual understanding of being and establish all cause as being in God. Understanding this, I realized that a physical heart was irrelevant to my well-being, and that my health was completely dependent on divine Life. This restored the conditions that are humanly considered healthy.

About seven months later, as I was preparing late one night for a business trip, the symptoms suddenly reappeared. This time, though, there was no fear or any temptation to seek a medical remedy. In fact, the only thought I needed to correct was annoyance at having to pause my work. Again, I let my understanding of God as Life and Truth correct the situation.

Along with reaffirming that “heart is dependent upon Life,” I remembered this passage from Science and Health: “If your patient from any cause suffers a relapse, meet the cause mentally and courageously, knowing that there can be no reaction in Truth. Neither disease itself, sin, nor fear has the power to cause disease or a relapse” (p. 419).

I knew I could treat myself through prayer as I had learned to do during Primary class instruction—a two-week course that prepares students of Christian Science to become practitioners—and I firmly denied the false suggestion that “life is dependent upon heart.” The symptoms disappeared and have not recurred.

In the years since, I’ve remained physically active: running, swimming, biking, and even completing several “mud runs” that included ten miles of running through and climbing over muddy obstacles. I continue to enjoy these activities without limitation.

I’m deeply grateful for the timeless truth my grandmother shared: “Life is not dependent upon heart; heart is dependent upon Life, God.”