A guest post written by Kathy Schofield

Almost every day I read or hear discussions on what could be considered a dilemma. The dilemma: How does a person know if the health care system or the medicine they are choosing is the right one to solve their problem(s)? The other day I heard an interview with a physician who said that many doctors were no longer prescribing a certain medical test for men because they had found that the test sometimes caused more problems or uncovered conditions that weren’t really difficulties, but led to procedures that were found to be unnecessary.

If someone is looking for answers to their health needs, there are many proposed health care systems: traditional medicine or alternatives such as acupuncture, herbal remedies, physical therapy, the mind-body perception of health, movement therapies, Native American healer/medicine man, Reiki, homeopathy (10^th in usage among adults and 5^th among children), and many more. What a host of alternatives!

Truly a dilemma.

One of the best solutions I, and many others, have found for solving this dilemma is spiritual healthcare, or prayer, which is not based on changing material conditions. In my case I have chosen to use the system of healing as taught in Christian Science. Although some may say it isn’t a science, its method has been proven over centuries to be effective in healing all types of diseases, beginning even before Christ Jesus (the greatest healer mankind has known so far), What is this system based on? The foundation, or Principle, is God, and the method is prayer to a God that is said to be good, just, and merciful – and most of all – unchanging, reliable, and trustworthy.

Christian Science, discovered in 1866 by Mary Baker Eddy, was thoroughly tested as a prayer healing system before her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, was written. Eddy knew she couldn’t write about this method unless she had proved that it worked on a regular scientific basis. In the Preface to her book, Eddy says, “Since the author’s discovery of the might of Truth in the treatment of disease as well as of sin, her system has been fully tested and has not been found wanting; but to reach the heights of Christian Science, man must live in obedience to its divine Principle.” It could be said that living in obedience to its divine Principle is equivalent to following the procedures used to prove a new scientific discovery. Don’t deviate from the rules that have already proved to be true, the solution to the problem will always be the same. Could it be that a spiritual healthcare system is the Science that will solve this dilemma?

As our nation continues to explore and research answers to this dilemma, wouldn’t it be just, since it seems there is no one right solution, to let individuals participate in a health care system that gives them the choice to use the health care that has proved most effective for them?