A recent comment questioning whether the United States had ever successfully put a man on the moon reminded me of when I worked at Kennedy Space Center as a marketing communications writer on the Apollo program. While I didn’t doubt the moon program was 100% authentic, I did wonder exactly how all the pieces of the massive Saturn V vehicle would come together. Like many people around the world, I had little science in my background to refer to for answers.

But I began to grasp it. Little by little, as I interviewed some of the brilliant minds who made up the team – including the “engi-grammers,” engineers who wrote the code for programming the guidance and trajectory for the Instrument Unit – I could conceive of the end result.

As much as I enjoyed learning more about the science behind the Apollo program, there’s another science I’ve also found interesting, and it’s of even more value to me: the divine Science that lies behind Jesus’ healings. According to biblical records, Christ Jesus consistently healed, and he helped his followers to understand the power of God, divine Spirit, as the restorer of health, strength, and life. He said, “The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10).

After years of prayerful search and study that rested on Bible-based spiritual reasoning, Mary Baker Eddy discovered a divine law underlying Jesus’ healings and teachings, and she proved what had been revealed to her by following Jesus’ example and healing others. She kept detailed notes and wrote a book on the subject titled “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.” Later she named her discovery Christian Science and founded the Church of Christ, Scientist.

A key point in this divine Science is the understanding of God – that God is solely good. If world problems and personal issues like illness seem inevitable to us, it can be hard to believe in a benevolent creator, let alone an all-good God. But through my study and practice of Christian Science, I’ve come to understand that we are God’s spiritual creations and that our divine creator doesn’t send sickness or conflict. I’ve also seen how this understanding of God’s goodness and our expression of God’s qualities is a powerful means for bringing healing to inharmony of all kinds.

What about limiting beliefs such as discouragement and doubt that contradict this sense of goodness and seem to keep us from experiencing healing? We can ask questions, as I did when I wanted to learn how all the pieces of Apollo would work together – ­in this case to find the answers that shed light on spiritual reality. Just as the early astronauts began by learning the laws of aerodynamics, then making actual flights, so every receptive heart can learn more of the Science behind Jesus’ ministry and then employ it in daily life.

Through asking her own questions, Mrs. Eddy came to the conclusion that Jesus’ healing works were rooted in his knowledge and utter acceptance of God’s allness and goodness. Because he saw everyone as the spiritual sons and daughters of God, Jesus knew their completeness or wholeness was God-given, therefore unbreakable. This spiritual understanding resulted in healing.

One instance when I had the opportunity to put this Science into practice was when I awakened one day to extreme pain in my legs and back. I was only able to walk a few steps. A rash also covered the upper part of my body and an eye appeared to be infected.

My approach to this situation included studying passages from the Bible and Science and Health found in the weekly Bible Lesson from the “Christian Science Quarterly.” As I read, I noticed that the word “authority” appeared in the Lesson quite often. For instance, Science and Health states, “You have no law of His to support the necessity either of sin or sickness, but you have divine authority for denying that necessity and healing the sick” (p. 390).

I remembered a time when an opponent in a tennis match commented to me, “You hit the ball with such authority!” I immediately looked up the word in a dictionary. Definitions included the power to determine or adjudicate, the right to control or command, and the idea of having “what it takes,” and I considered several synonyms of the word.

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Through my own study and prayer – and with the support of a Christian Science practitioner, whose ministry is to heal through prayer – I felt a renewed understanding of my right to annul an unjust sentence. I recognized it hadn’t come from God, good. With this new revelation I rose and walked across the room completely free of any pain. That evening I noticed the rash was gone and my eye had also cleared up. None of the issues have returned.

Each of us, through prayer, can come to understand the spiritual facts that correct negative, materially based thinking and lift our consciousness to new views and possibilities that bring healing.