No more Menstrual Pain

The following posts are from a recent tmcyouth.com online discussion on how young women have prayed about chronic monthly pain. These selected comments are not republished with the Christian Science Sentinel’s intent to endorse particular views, but to give a snapshot of current issues young people are thinking and praying about in today’s world.

amyfworth
Healing menstrual cramps is something I talk about with many women who are Christian Scientists. I was wondering if anyone could share what they have prayed with in the past? I think it would help everyone.

Shelly
I’ve found it effective to explore the meaning of “the cycles of divine light” (Science and Health, p. 135). For me, that means that the only cycle is the continuous spiral of a higher and deeper understanding of God, Truth. And that event is joyful, expectant. Truth defines the cycles of our life, not matter, death, pain, or sorrow. All of which would want to attach themselves to monthly cycles. Instead, my life reflects Spirit, Life, in which there is no pain or sorrow. . . . Spirit, Life, dictates the terms of our life, and there is only a continuous and uninterrupted relationship to Love.

Myriam B
I recorded, some years ago, a testimony for the Sentinel Radio Edition about a healing I had of very painful periods. This went on for ten years. I took painkillers for a while since I got so fearful of the pain when I knew it was coming. It worked for a while, but after six months, the painkillers didn’t have any effect on me anymore, and a doctor told me it was something that sometimes happens once I’d gotten used to the medicine. So I stopped taking those painkillers. One day when the pain was coming again, I called a Christian Science practitioner, and she just asked me three times on the phone if I understood that God was the only Creator. Well, I didn’t see right away what she meant, and didn’t say much, but the only thing I know is that this three-minute phone call made me think that if God was the only Creator, then it was not my responsibility to create things, circumstances, friendships, health. All this was God’s job. I felt a huge weight falling from my shoulders, and I was definitely healed.

Little child
One day on the train to NYC, I had to get off at the next station (with the help of a friend) and be driven home by some other kind friends because I had menstrual cramps. I called my Christian Science teacher to pray. He told me to rest and assured me that I would be healed. I trusted his words and turned it all over to God and my teacher. I promptly fell asleep. Soon, the phone woke me. It was a friend with a business question. At first I started to tell her I couldn’t talk, but then I felt impelled to help her. I forgot all about myself and my problem. When we got off the phone a few minutes later, I suddenly realized that I was totally well. I do mean totally. I jumped up and down with joy and gratitude, thanking God over and over. Then I drove to the store to get a big box of nice chocolates and brought them to the wife of the friend of mine who had helped me off the train. I described the events leading up to my knocking on her door, then told her, “This is what a Christian Science healing looks like. It comes from trusting God’s power, and helping others without thought for oneself.” Or something like that. I think she wasA amazed. Later her husband and my other friends got big thank-you’s from me.

blisstic
One day (a day before my cycle came around) I randomly opened The Message Bible and got this quote from Psalms 97:8: “Daughters of Zion, sing your hearts out: God has done it all, has set everything right.” And that quote made me so comfortable and stress-free. And I was thinking, if “God has done it all” and “has set everything right,” I don’t need to be afraid/worried when my cycle comes around. It will be painless and natural, the way it is supposed to be. And the next day, I got my menstruation cycle. I had some slight discomfort, but after a couple of minutes of praying, it went away and hasn’t come back since, and that was months ago. That helped me a whole lot, and I hope it helps somebody else as well!

Katie B
I was praying about the same thing, for quite a while. It was easier for me to just wait it out each month. For me, at least, that’s always a very tempting option . . . I would kind of halfheartedly “pray” truths, but mostly just be very impressed with the whole material picture. The turning point came for me when I began praying more with the idea of identity. Several months ago I decided I needed a better concept of who I am, really, as God’s child. One day, I was driving into town and the symptoms began to come on. And instead of groaning about it and hurrying home, I found that I was just completely offended by the idea that this was a part of my identity. Right there in the car, I just insisted that I was perfect because God was perfect and I was His reflection. And the pain completely faded away! I was shocked. For 11 years I had put up with the belief, but when I had stood up for my real identity, the pain disappeared completely. And it has never returned. Two things came to mind for me in this experience. One is in Science and Health on page 99 where Mary Baker Eddy says, “The calm, strong currents of true spirituality, the manifestations of which are health, purity, and selfimmolation, must deepen human experience, until the beliefs of material existence are seen to be a bald imposition, and sin, disease, and death give everlasting place to the scientific demonstration of divine Spirit and to God’s spiritual, perfect man.” For me, that really describes what happened to me that day. All of a sudden, I did see those pains as a “bald imposition,” and my false belief gave way under Truth. The second thing that stood out to me was something that came to me afterwards. I realized that I had accepted the belief of period pains as part of who I was. I was impressed by it, annoyed by it, complained about it with my friends when they complained . . . basically, I just identified myself as someone with that problem. But the neat thing was . . . that was the only place the pains really existed—in my mistaken view of myself. They weren’t power, they weren’t real, it was just a case of mistaken identity on my part! It was an incredible experience for me, and really illustrated how once we no longer believe in an error, we can’t suffer from it. It was a little like being afraid at a haunted house, then suddenly realizing all the monsters were just people wearing costumes. It all boiled down to knowing who I was: a perfect expression of God’s goodness.