Healed Through Prayer of a Bee Sting in the Eye

I  guess it comes up time and time again, the immense gratitude I have for Mrs. Eddy’s revelation about the lie of animal magnetism, or at least the way it operates. And I had an especially pronounced healing this last week as a result of my growing understanding. It coincided with both the Lesson Sermon on hypnotism and mesmerism and with the daily watch 430 in Gilbert Carpenters’s 500 Watching Points. The watch ended with the words, “In Science we should let animal magnetism take the punishment for sin and we should escape that punishment by escaping from animal magnetism; but man as the perfect child of God should never admit that he is a sinner.”

My day started with the unbelievable amount of things I had to do and the claim of very little time. I was rushing around and wanted to get over to the Arboretum quickly to take our dog for a much-needed walk. Instead of the usual quick drive there, it turned out to be over an hour because of traffic. I could feel myself getting frustrated and angry at the situation—not on top of it at all. At long last, I made it to the turning lane of the entrance to the Arboretum but the driver just ahead of me blocked the lane. They didn’t want to turn but rather go straight and there was a long line of traffic in that lane. So, instead of turning right, the driver stayed there blocking the turning lane for everyone. This was the last straw! Filled with self-justification and self-righteousness, I leaned on the horn relentlessly as this driver continued to block the turning lane. I was very rude! And because I had such a great human reason for acting that way, I left it at that. And honestly, at the time, I did not catch it. I went on my way for the walk and tried to put it out of my mind. In rehearsing it, I did admit that it was stupid of me, but I did not do the metaphysical work and later that day, it all came home to roost.

I was walking in the garden when a bee came out of nowhere and stung me in my right eye; in the inside corner at the tear duct. I was shocked and very frightened. It was extremely painful. I hobbled down the steps and into the house. I couldn’t see out of that eye and I immediately began tying this situation to how outrageously I had behaved earlier in the day. I started down that road of guilt and how terrible I had been when (almost immediately) a light came on, that it was not me but animal magnetism, that I had let slip in. Just like the Watching Point said. Right then, I was able to claim my right to be free because of who I really am and not who the suggestion of this rude and unenlightened person was. I stayed with these thoughts. Within the next 15  minutes my eye was perfectly fine. I could see. There was no mark or pain because with that beautiful light of the Christ, I recognized my real self and my real identity. I was free and also in awe, and just utterly grateful. I could see how helpful this could be to everyone else in my life. To experience something that is so scary and beautiful and humbling at the same time. It is not anything I could have done myself. It was as though I had been picked up and set on the right road.

I am very, very grateful for having these tools of Christian Science and I don’t think I would have given this testimony tonight had it not been for all the previous testimonies that have been so inspiring and so helpful in getting out of oneself and being able to express the gratitude that is always there, often silently, but it is important to speak out and offer it outwardly.