During a visit with some friends in their new house, while we...

During a visit with some friends in their new house, while we were inspecting the backyard, I jumped up on a two-foot-high concrete block garden wall to get a better view. Suddenly the wall collapsed, leaving a deep wound in my ankle and foot and apparently injuring a bone. Embarrassment, fear, and pain engulfed me. I felt embarrassed to have defaced our friend's lovely yard and afraid that I might never be able to freely participate in my favorite sports again—especially racquetball—or even to continue with our plans for an extensive vacation. Most urgent, however, was the need to stop the pain and bleeding.

I began to pray. Prayer for me has come to take a variety of forms. This time I quietly affirmed my inseparable, perfect relationship with God. "The scientific statement of being," found in Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, was the foundation of this prayer. The last sentence focused thought clearly on my (man's) real nature (p. 468): "Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."

I saw that this picture of injury was no part of my existence as the intact, spiritual manifestation of God, ever-present good. I recognized that man could never be separated or severed from good and that what was really needed was a clearer view of body as the embodiment of spiritual qualities—such as activity, love, and power—which are never in or dependent on matter for life.

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April 12, 1982
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