The BA Blog Christian Science nursing supports healing | Chestnut Hill Benevolent Association

One summer recently I found that I was having difficulty getting around at home. Suddenly it accelerated to not being able to do just about anything. I was working with a Christian Science practitioner, and my husband called the visiting Christian Science nurse, who came right away. She suggested that I go to the BA, and my husband and I agreed.

I wasn’t interested in what the problem was. I had two things in mind. I wanted to love everyone who did anything for me while I was at the BA, and I wanted to understand my oneness with God. I didn’t think about symptoms, even though they seemed to be drastic. I couldn’t do anything for myself. I couldn’t read or even talk very well.

My stay at the BA lasted just two weeks. At first people read to me, and I wasn’t noticing any improvement. But I think those around me were, because in very short order I found I could read. It was the most wonderful day! And each day there was progress. I had brought with me the Bible, and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures and Prose Works by Mary Baker Eddy.

I also brought the biography Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Healer. I was guided to read the “Interlude, Advice for healers” section. I read it all the time. I read the Bible Lesson in the morning and then studied the Interlude. It was like being with Mrs. Eddy. I found that I really appreciated her more than I ever had. I think that was very important.

About three days before I was to leave, all of a sudden I felt directed to stop reading the Interlude and start reading Science and Health. I started at the beginning, and it was so alive! It was wonderful.

One thing that I absolutely will never forget was the loving care provided by the Christian Science nurses at the BA. It was almost as if I was in this flowing river. The Christian Science nurses would come at different times and joined that wonderful flow. They all contributed in their loving way to the progress of that healing.

I would see wild turkeys outside [the window] and one of the Christian Science nurses said, “Oh yes, they roost in the trees at night.” And as I watched, a turkey spread his wings and floated up 50 feet to the top of a tree. That was such a wonderful sight, because it made me think that we’re all doing that, we’re all floating up so to speak. We’re all soaring up to our safety place with God’s arms around us.

Soon after I began to read Science and Health it was clear that I no longer needed the care of the Christian Science nurses.

I realized, reluctantly in a way, that it was time for me to go home. What a wonderful experience to stay at the BA and to have such healing thought assist you in your trip up to your safety branch!