Always Prepared to Welcome God's Man

"And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither."

-II Kings 4:8-10

Like this dear woman, we at High Ridge House want to be always prepared to welcome God’s man. We begin by holding clearly in thought that God’s man is holy and beloved. We make room in our lives and in our hearts to accept this man. We ask God to show us how we can best support the holy work of Christian healing. And we are grateful for every opportunity to share our home and our love for God.

The Admission Process

With this in mind, we’ve tried very hard to keep the admission process simple and straightforward. For instance, most admission requests are handled over the phone, and can usually be approved within an hour of the initial request-especially if the need is for immediate admission. It's best if the prospective patient or a close family member calls us, since we would need to talk to one or both of them as part of the application process.

Age is not a factor-we have assisted patients of many ages and backgrounds. Anyone prepared to rely on Christian Science treatment for healing is welcome, and this would include a new reader of Science and Health regardless of church affiliation.

Patients do not have to be ambulatory to come to High Ridge House. We are skilled and equipped to care for patients with a wide range of needs, even if they are temporarily unable to get out of bed or to feed themselves.

We will do everything possible to accommodate a nursing need, so never assume that we don't have a room available. On those rare occasions when we cannot immediately admit a patient, we may still be able to help you make other temporary arrangements until we do have space. But we find that when someone needs help, God opens the way for providing this help.

The cost of care should not be an obstacle to admission. In fact, we discourage patients from even discussing financial concerns for as much as a week, in order to give their full attention to prayer and study. Whatever the need, we join you in affirming that divine Love has already met it. High Ridge House has a Benevolence Fund, and will work with patients to find the right balance between deferred payment and benevolence.

Our Covenant With Patients

The Shunamite woman made a commitment in providing that room for Elisha. And he reciprocated by asking what he could do for her. Both were blessed by that relationship. We work to cultivate a partnership with our patients that will also bring mutual blessings.

For our part, we promise that we will:

• Support their spiritual growth and commitment to healing through prayer.
• Provide skilled and tender care that is prayer-based and consonant with the theology of Christian Science.
• Respect their responsibility to make decisions about their nursing care and study needs.
• Maintain in ourselves a clear understanding of their present perfection as God's likeness and an expectancy of immediate and permanent healing.
• Work with them in loving cooperation.

We ask patients who comes to High Ridge House to agree to:

• Commit themselves to spiritual growth and renewal while they are here.
• Actively study and treat themselves daily.
• Seek a better understanding of God and man through daily treatment from a Journal-listed Christian Science practitioner.
• Communicate directly with their practitioner to the extent that they are able.
• Care for themselves each day to the extent that they are able.
• Express gratitude and joy! (These speed healing!)
• Work with us in loving cooperation.

Reliance on Spiritual Healing

It is understood that anyone coming to High Ridge House will rely on Christian Science alone for healing. We are here to support the patient’s conviction that Christian Science treatment is always safe, reliable and effective. Medical procedures, medicated products, painkillers, etc. are not used at High Ridge House because Christian Science teaches that it is unwise to mix other healing methods with Christian Science treatment. [ii] What we do offer is a quiet, prayerful atmosphere, skilled and loving non-medical nursing care, and reading aloud from the Bible and Christian Science books and periodicals. These services, and others, are provided by a supportive staff with a strong conviction in the power of prayer—conviction that is grounded in many collective years of healing proofs that we have witnessed or experienced in our own lives.

Christian Science Home Nursing and Outpatient Care

We love the Shunamite woman’s deep generosity and her admiration for Elijah’s holy mission. She saw it as her mission to care for Elijah in a special and specific way. She also had the vision, later on, to call him to her home when her only son needed help quickly. [iii] For Elijah, that meant making a house call; he dropped everything to go to her son.

We make house calls, too. Our Christian Science home nursing service is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We can come in the middle of the night if the need is urgent, and we have done just that many, many times! Often only one visit is needed, but we are happy to come back, even daily, until the healing is complete. Our nurses can stay for up to two hours, and we will help make arrangements for someone to stay longer if that is the need. We've sent a nurse as far away as Mexico, but normally we answer calls in the tri-state area including New York City, Long Island, the lower half of New York state, and western Connecticut.

We also see patients on an outpatient basis. All we need is a phone call letting us know when to expect you and we will be ready to welcome you and to declare with the Shunamite woman, "It is well!"