Article June 30, 1986 Issue

Seasonal troubles—don't buy them!

JUDITH ANN HARDY

A radio commercial urged me to "be ready" for summer with a particular brand of plastic-strip bandages. That same day while marketing, I picked up a giant economy-size box of that brand.

In less than a month our family of four was down to its last bandage. Never before had we had such a rash of scrapes, cuts, and skins. So again I added bandages to my shopping list.

But before my next trip to the store, I came across a statement in my study of Christian Science that roused me to realize that I had bought more than bandages! In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy explains, "You cause bodily sufferings and increase them by admitting their reality and continuance, as directly as you enhance your joys by believing them to be real and continuous."^{Science and Health, p. 397.} In one sense that radio advertisement was also selling accidents—our liability to and the supposed necessity for them. And I'd unwittingly bought the whole package. No wonder those strips hadn't lasted long!