I am very grateful for Christian Science

I am very grateful for Christian Science. I have had many healings in the past, but there is one that is very special to me. I was in the ninth year of my ballet training, and it was almost June, when our annual recital was to be held. In the past I had always looked forward to the recital, but this time something was different. I was to be in four separate numbers, including a solo. Also, in the audience would be my family and many of my friends, all of whom I dearly wanted to please. I guess thinking about these things was what made me so nervous.

About two weeks before the final rehearsal I started having pains in my left knee. The more I was on pointe, the more my knee hurt. My mother and I prayed about this for the next week. During that time I recognized that what I was preparing and practicing for was a constructive activity, and I could not suffer or be punished for it.

The next Sunday at Sunday School I discussed these thoughts with my teacher. (She was a substitute teacher for that Sunday, and she became a very special teacher to me.) She told me that when I got up on that stage, God would be with me; He wouldn't just be waiting for me in the wings. Man is governed by God and is eternally with Him. The first verse of Hymn No. 53 in the Christian Science Hymnal was very helpful:

By dress rehearsal the day before the recital, I was able to dance without hurting the knee.

The day of the recital, much of my time was spent praying. I knew that in my true being as God's idea, I reflect Him. God, Soul, is the source of grace, so therefore I am graceful. As I went on the stage the first time, I reminded myself, "God is with me." As I worked my way through that dance, then the next, and the next, I finally realized that although my last number was called a solo, it would not really be a solo. I wasn't going to be alone on stage, for God is always with me! As I was waiting in the wings for my cue to enter, I could feel divine Love's presence. I had a good feeling about what I was about to do. Then my cue came. I went right onto that stage, certain that God was with me as I took every step, made every move.

As I started to approach one of the hardest moves in the dance, I just kept thinking "God is here." As soon as I completed the jump, the audience applauded loudly. I could hear my father yelling, "That's a girl!" The dance went beautifully. As I made my exit, the audience applauded again. And my instructor (who was always difficult to please) gave me a big hug and said it had been perfect.

After the show, a lot of people came backstage. Many of them told me that there had been something very special about my dance. I smiled and thanked them, and all the while I silently thanked God. I am very, very grateful for Christian Science.

SUSAN McCALL
Wakefield, Massachusetts