There must be more to Easter than what I’ve heard!

“What Christian Science has shown me about the true meaning of Easter is priceless. It is the best inheritance I can leave to my son, and the most valuable thing I can share with all of my family and friends,” writes Araceli in telling of a wonderful physical healing she experienced through the study of Christian Science.

I was raised in a religion in which Easter had great importance but focused on the crucifixion and suffering that Christ Jesus experienced. For someone who had come to show us that God is all Love and all good, it seemed to me there was a lot of pain, and I could not accept that injustice would prevail over good. I felt there must be something more to Easter than what I had been taught, and I didn’t want to pass that suffering-focused concept on to my son and family.

When I was later introduced to Christian Science, I found in its teachings what I felt was a more coherent explanation of the significance of Easter—that is, an understanding of the true purpose of Christ Jesus’ life, the message of which was of spiritual light, liberation, regeneration, and the continuity of good . . .

I consider the moment that our beloved Master resurrected to be a moment of divine consciousness, of his being totally attuned to God’s thoughts, which can bring only peace and joy, and hope for the future. God sends His comforting thoughts to us, too, and I have felt imbued with these thoughts. During these moments, I have come to see more clearly that there is no final verdict of sin, disease, or death handed down by matter, and that God, infinite good, always has the last word. This has catapulted my thought beyond the limiting testimony of the human senses and verified to me that God is Life, the only Life.

This became crystal clear to me almost three years ago. I was exercising strenuously at a gym and suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest and left arm. I felt faint and went to the changing room. I had difficulty breathing. I couldn’t think or pray, except to repeat to myself, “God is my life, God is my life.” I called a Christian Science practitioner for metaphysical treatment, and she told me with great certainty that I could hear only the voice of God and feel only His strength. Calmly, she reminded me that God was right there holding me up and that nothing bad could happen . . .

The practitioner continued to allay my fears, and I called a transportation service to drive me home. While I was waiting for the vehicle, the practitioner talked with me about the true concept of man, defined this way by Mary Baker Eddy in the Christian Science textbook: “Man is not matter; he is not made up of brain, blood, bones, and other material elements. The Scriptures inform us that man is made in the image and likeness of God. . . . Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique. He is the compound idea of God, including all right ideas; . . .” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 475). This “man,” in Christian Science, is the male and female that God created, not of matter but of Spirit, a creation that is perfect and cannot lapse into pain, sickness, or death. I identified myself as this perfect idea of God . . .

The three days I was in bed were filled with love, prayer, and understanding, with the attentive care of everyone at home. I felt such a natural restoring of the body that on the fourth morning I got up, washed my face, got dressed, and, feeling hungry, went down to the kitchen to look for food. My husband, who had decided to work from home those days, was very happy to see me coming down the stairs. I was now able to move more freely; the pain had yielded.

In one week my health was fully restored, and I took up my normal activities. Something had changed. The understanding of what Life is, of what man’s true support is, had taken hold in thought, and I could only echo Jesus’ words in gratitude: “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always” (John 11:41, 42).

For my family and me, this healing was truly a cause for celebration. Although the date on the calendar said otherwise, it was an Easter day. I felt reborn.

This testimony has been edited for brevity, but you can read her whole account in the Christian Science Sentinel.