Editorial January 19, 1974 Issue

Freeing Ourselves from Crutches

Naomi Price

When Peter and John healed a congenital cripple at the gate of the temple, the man immediately "stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God."^{Acts 3:8;} So sudden and complete was his healing that he had no need of crutches, not even for a short period of convalescence.

For the first time in his life this man was independent of people and material aids for movement. He had accepted without hesitation the great gift the disciples offered—not of silver and gold, but of Spirit—the gift of the Christly understanding that, despite physical appearances, he actually possessed and could joyfully express health and energy and freedom. Christ Jesus had taught that God's good gifts—including health, as every healing showed—are free to those who will accept them; and Peter and John awakened the man in some measure to this fact. He responded to their understanding of this spiritual truth and was healed.

Some people today occasionally use crutches to support their efforts to walk, and they are grateful for them—as they well may be if they have not so suddenly accepted the Christly idea of their God-given perfection as did this man in Jerusalem and been instantly healed. When for a time we cannot easily move around, these contraptions sometimes offer a welcome alternative to immobility. And when we do resort to them, we usually think of them as temporaty props rather than healing agents. We see them merely as useful objects that will open the way for us to break down limitations and help us while we develop strength and self-reliance. While using them, we eagerly look forward to the day when we can completely lay them aside and walk and run and leap alone—just as we should energetically work to demonstrate our perfect sight and hearing and overcome the need for the glasses and hearing aids we may temporarily find helpful.

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