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We began to see that our daughter was already complete
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| Maitreyee Dutta |
| Reprinted from the November 2004 issue of The
Christian Science Journal. |
Since her birth, our daughter, Ankita, had been a source of joy for
my husband and me. But after about three years, we had grown quite worried
about her. Unlike other children, she could not express herself through speech.
And she would often scream or cry over little things for very long periods
of time, during which she appeared unable to understand what we were saying
to her. In many ways, she seemed almost deranged. Friends advised us that
this kind of behavior was abnormal and should be medically treated.
We went to a doctor, who recommended that we see a child psychiatrist.
I was not eager to do this. We were acquainted with a family whose child had
exhibited similar symptoms, and she had been diagnosed as mentally retarded.
My husband and I were concerned about this kind of labeling, and we wanted
to help our daughter in other ways.
We tried everything we could think of to help Ankita feel secure and
loved. I was concerned that I was not spending enough time with her, so I
decided to put my career on hold for a period of time in order to stay home
with her. I tried different methods of encouraging her to talk. We also visited
a neighbor’s house, so Ankita would have an opportunity to play with other
children. But the children would avoid her. She couldn’t express herself like
they could.
Then we tried enrolling Ankita in play school. But she had problems
there, too. She could not interact with the teachers, and she continued to
cry for long periods of time. And it seemed that she understood nothing they
said. Quite frequently, the teacher would call me and ask me to take Ankita
home.
Day by day, I became more protective of my daughter. I felt that I couldn’t
leave her alone anywhere. I was so tense that I started to suffer from high
blood pressure. I took homeopathic medicine for this and studied meditation.
But nothing seemed to help. There was no improvement in my health or that
of my daughter.
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| I was eager to learn more about Christian Science. |
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Later, when Ankita was attending a different school and I was back at
work, I overheard some remarks made by a colleague. She was talking about
Christian Science. I was encouraged to hear that prayer can help people overcome
the problems in their lives. And I was eager to learn more. I talked with
my colleague about my daughter, and she invited me to church. She said I could
bring my daughter to Sunday School.
When we attended church with our daughter, I had to sit with her in
the Sunday School. The teacher agreed to this arrangement, given my daughter’s
situation. At first Ankita was afraid and would not respond to anyone. She
would sit in a chair by herself, and sometimes run into the church service
and scream. At other times, she would spit on the chairs.
But everyone at the church expressed love to her. She grew comfortable
enough to sit in her Sunday School teacher’s lap. And she learned how to switch
on the tape recorder when it was time to play hymns. The teacher and the other
students even helped her learn the Lord’s Prayer. After a few weeks, Ankita’s
fear lessened. She was soon able to be on her own in Sunday School, which
allowed me to attend church services.
After we had been going to church for about six months, my husband—who
had also begun to study Christian Science—and I decided to ask for help for
our daughter from a Christian Science practitioner. My husband had witnessed
the physical healings I’d begun to have, and he’d become convinced of the
efficacy of this form of treatment.
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| Man is perfect at every stage of growth. |
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In the first meeting, the practitioner told us that man, including male
and female, was made in the image and likeness of God, and is, therefore,
complete and perfect at every stage of growth. He referred to this definition
of children from Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: “The spiritual thoughts and representatives
of Life, Truth, and Love.” He also suggested we read the first chapter of
Genesis in the Bible.
These selections were a source of great inspiration for both my husband
and me. I was so comforted and encouraged to know that God made each one of
us as His own image and likeness. It was wonderful to realize that this was
true, not just for us, but for our daughter as well.
We visited with the practitioner once a week and learned more from the
many other ideas he shared from the Bible and Science and Health.
He also asked us to consider attending Wednesday testimony meetings at church—and
taking our daughter with us. In spite of the disruptions Ankita caused at
first, we were welcomed with great love. And slowly Ankita quieted down, and
occasionally gave testimonies.
In spite of this progress, however, there were still problems. It was
difficult not to feel discouraged when months passed with little sign of progress.
There were times when I used to feel depressed. My husband, too, was disturbed
by Ankita’s behavior. But the practitioner would reassure us time and again,
“Your daughter is God’s daughter.” He encouraged us to allow God to take care
of His child.
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| My daughter was under God’s control. |
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We came to know that all children are children of God. They are spiritual
and perfect. Together, my husband and I would often affirm Ankita’s God-given
perfection. And we saw more and more that our daughter was already perfect
and complete in every respect. Slowly, I began to understand more clearly
that my daughter was under God’s control and that the symptoms I saw didn’t
belong to her—they weren’t part of her identity as the likeness of God. And
little by little, our daughter’s behavior began to improve.
One day, I noticed that Ankita was going to the park alone without me.
She started to play there with children of her age. Reports from her school
also improved. She started to complete her class work alone and to follow
the teacher’s instructions. Also, we saw remarkable improvement in the quality
of her work, which was evident from her performance in midterm examinations.
About ten months after we had first asked the practitioner to pray with
us, we realized that Ankita had been completely healed. And at one of the
medical examinations of the children in her school, the doctor declared that
she was perfectly normal.
Now, at age seven, Ankita freely mixes with children her age. Her teachers
describe her as attentive and well-behaved. She converses and writes well.
She even participated in a drama and acted on the stage. She is now the way
we had been praying to see her: whole and complete—in every way.
Maitreyee Dutta, mother of two girls, teaches computer programming
at the graduate level. She lives in Panchkula, Haryana, India.
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| God’s perfect creation: |
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Science and Health:
582:28
King James Bible:
Gen. 1:27
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