Pain and immobility healed

One evening, while I was at a get-together with friends, I began to feel an uncomfortable sensation in one of my arms. Later that night, the pain had increased to the point that I had difficulty sleeping. In the morning, I wasn’t able to raise my arm easily to get dressed, but managed, with help, to get ready for work. In addition to my early-morning prayer and study, several times during the day I took a few moments to again affirm my relationship to God and to counter the evidence of pain and immobility that I knew had no origin in Him. I stayed at work all day, but the discomfort remained pretty intense.

When I’d read the Christian Science Bible Lesson that morning, I’d particularly considered the story of Jacob wrestling with a man until the break of day (see Gen. 32:24–30). The Bible mentions that “the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.” Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, explains that Jacob was engaged in a mental and spiritual struggle to gain a clearer sense of life in Spirit, instead of matter (see Science and Health, pp. 308–309). I felt that I also had some wrestling to do.

I decided to call a Christian Science practitioner to pray with me. One concern that I mentioned to her was that I might miss more work. I had recently needed to take a month off because of a family emergency, and had only been back at work for two days when this new challenge presented itself. An idea we talked about from Science and Health was this encouraging promise: “Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself” (Science and Health, p. 385). I’d assumed that this referred to everyday responsibilities—fulfilling our obligations at work or school or home. The practitioner helped me realize that sometimes our obligations are to God, to get to know Him better, to acknowledge more of our unbroken relationship with Him, and to recognize more of His tender care. This helped me see that I could stop worrying about what my co-workers would think if I had to take time off again. So I felt free to devote myself to further prayer and study.

During the next few days, I prayed a lot. At first, it was tempting to wonder what had caused this problem. I realized, though, that I needed to turn away from wanting to attribute a perceived physical effect to a particular physical cause. I knew from my study of Christian Science that God is the only cause, and the only effect is the perfect expression of His goodness. Anything else declaring itself a “source” was an impostor. I saw I didn’t need to be caught up in it, or to try to analyze it any further. I needed only to yield to divine Love’s complete authority.

Although I was still unable to move my arm, I had a sure expectation that the situation would be healed. I knew that Christian Science wasn’t an academic study—full of absolute truths that were lofty but impractical. Every spiritual concept could be applied with healing results. Even if I believed the report of pain and malfunction, this had no power to change the spiritual facts relating to my well-being. A line from Science and Health became the new focus of my prayerful work: “Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action” (Science and Health, p. 454). Yes, I wanted to be pain-free and mobile, but was that why I was praying? No, I realized. Even the desire to prove to others that Christian Science treatment was quick and effective fell short of the motive I knew was “right.” My true purpose was to go deeper in my understanding of my Father-Mother God and the perfection He/She expressed in me.

Physically I wasn’t feeling better, but spiritually I felt that I was taking wonderful steps forward. During my second day at home, I prayed more fervently with the idea that because God is the only Creator, whatever denies the goodness, perfection, and wholeness of man is a lie—a lie that is often disguised as a “symptom” or “condition.” So with affirmations of truth, I denied that my substance was material and affirmed that as God’s likeness, my true substance was and could only be spiritual. I denied that chance or accident could harm me, since God was always governing every aspect of my existence. I denied the thought that I could experience pain, knowing that my real senses were spiritual and that I could only be responsive to Soul, God. Finally, I denied that God was unable to help me, knowing instead that my relationship with Him—my harmony and wholeness—was forever intact.

The next day I was able to move freely and to return to work. The pain disappeared and has not returned since. I was so grateful for the healing, but even more, for the inspiration that put me more firmly on the rock of Truth.

Tori Dell | Sacramento, California, US