The Life and Legacy of Myrtle Fillmore

At a very young age, Myrtle was diagnosed with tuberculosis, a condition that stayed with her until she was over 40. She was a “fearfully sick” child and was not allowed to participate in many activities. She spent much of her time reading and exploring the natural world outside her home. Even as a young child, she recognized her connection, her oneness with nature and thus with God. 

It was this mystical connection that helped her transform that sick child into a strong and powerful woman. Doctors had told her there was nothing they could do and she would die within a few months, so she and Charles sought spiritual means of healing. At a lecture by metaphysician Eugene B. Weeks in 1886, Myrtle seized upon the words: I am a child of God, and therefore I do not inherit sickness. For the first time Myrtle genuinely understood what it meant to be a “child of God.” Her true being was not the “emaciated little woman” she thought she was. Rather, she discovered she had within her the pattern of perfection and wholeness that is God’s nature.

She began a process of forgiveness and affirmative prayer. Myrtle apologized to all parts of her body for “condemning them and calling them weak, inefficient, and diseased.” She then began speaking Truth to them, saying they were full of “vigor and energy,” “active and strong.” Finally, she asked God to forgive her for “taking his Life into [her] organism and there using it so meanly.” Myrtle promised she would encourage the “free flow of that Life” with “true thoughts and words.” As she did this daily, her body began to respond until she was free from physical limitation about two years later. She continued to practice prayer, meditation, and healthy living for the rest of her life.