Search: science and health with key to the scriptures

From an early age, I witnessed the undeniable power of Christian Science healing. One of my first experiences—instantaneously healing a close family friend of smoking—awakened in me a deep desire to help others through the practice of spiritual healing.

Healing in Christian Science is joyful— it’s the natural result of understanding God as divine Life and Love. Ann Kneeland, a Christian Science practitioner and lecturer, shares real-life examples of spiritual healing.

Chiemezi has always desired to understand how things work, often immersing himself in books in order to explore this desire.He encountered Christian Science as a teenager, through Sentinel radio– an audio program from the Christian Science Sentinel. At first, he didn't really understand it; but he felt there was something more to it that was worth exploring. He began to seriously study Christian Science many years later, applying that same desire to “understand how things work” he’d always felt.

I was born in Italy and moved to Brazil with my family as a teenager. Ever since my childhood I had felt drawn to religion and spirituality even though my family was not very religious.  Brazil offered me the opportunity to pursue my spiritual search, and I was able to get better acquainted with the Bible, which I loved. Then in college I was introduced to Christian Science by the young man who later became my husband. I immediately felt it was the deep truth I was looking for.

Prison and Institutional Work

I grew up in a very loving home, with three brothers and two sisters. My mom lived Christian Science! She was widowed when all six of us were very young, and never worked outside the home.

All my life I have loved the truths Christian Science teaches. As a child I made some simple proofs of healing.

As a preschooler, I fell out of a tree, badly wounding my arm. Worried that my dad, not a Christian Scientist, would be alarmed, my mom considered taking me to a doctor.

In Junior High School my girlfriend asked my religion. I finally “confessed” to being a Christian Scientist.

What do counseling at-risk youth, running an emergency shelter, working as a wilderness ranger, teaching, and coordinating community outreach programs all have in common? These were jobs that led to my being in the full-time practice of Christian Science! Even as a child, lessons from the Bible and Mary Baker Eddy's writings had encouraged and shown me ways to help others.  Christian Science gave me a love for Christ Jesus; it also enabled me to follow him by showing how prayer transforms experience by transforming thought.  Whether confronting hostile situations, battling a forest fire, or facing physical challenges, prayer enabled me to get beyond the appearance of things to the spiritual truth that brought healing solutions. As God’s love became more real to me and the mental nature of experience became more apparent, so did opportunities to heal.