I Was surprised to hear myself exclaim to a friend, "I am going through hell!" My difficulties were not earth-shattering, but discouragement and a feeling of rapid decline that I associated with advancing years had led to my statement.

Going through and eventually getting out of a stressful time is one thing, but staying in it is something else. Immediately after the exclamation to my friend, a thought in the twenty-third Psalm that I had always treasured came to me: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me." ^{Ps. 23:4.}

In many instances, I had shared this thought from the Bible when friends were struggling with the loss of a loved one. Speaking of "the valley of the shadow of death," I would confidently and reverently state, "Walk through it; don't stay in it." Now I found it necessary to take my own advice!

In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy interprets the familiar word hell from a Christianly scientific standpoint. She writes of it as "mortal belief; error; lust; remorse; hatred; revenge; sin; sickness; death; suffering and self-destruction; self-imposed agony; effects of sin; that which 'worketh abomination or maketh a lie.' " ^{Science and Health, p. 588.}

From the teachings of Christian Science, it is clear that we are meant to walk through or over evils, not to become enmeshed in them. So we don't need to remain bound by evil. We can pray our way out of it. We can even destroy it.

In simple terms, we could say that hell means holding on to false beliefs of there being a power separate from God. Lust, for instance, would suggest that sin has more power than God. Sickness argues that disease can overpower divinity. To overcome these and other beliefs, we affirm our oneness with God as His spiritual offspring.

Many times the passage from the Bible "and he healed them" ^{Matt. 4:24.} has reminded me of Christ Jesus' healing power. Our Master was confronted by sickness, sin, and death. By his staunch reversal of these evils and acknowledgment of one God, one Principle, the only Mind, he freed those needing help. He liberated them from the discord they were going through. He healed them.

A Christian Scientist found herself in need of physical healing one morning because she had a rash that was becoming very noticeable. Her husband, who was not a Christian Scientist, gave her an ultimatum: "If this thing is not better on Monday, I really believe you should see a doctor." As an earnest student of Christian Science, she knew that Christ, Truth, could heal her just as it had healed people in Jesus' day. She prayed to know the presence of the one Mind, one God, and no other. This prayer enabled her to get a purer and more peaceful sense of her totally spiritual nature as God's child. The rash faded away and the healing was complete by Monday. Her sincere prayer to see only one God, one power, operating in her life brought about harmony.

Through prayer each of us can be liberated from fear, discouragement, and other troubles. To do this we need a deeper understanding of our spirituality, which is fully exempt from materiality. If we see ourselves in material terms, we may catch ourselves thinking, "I'm getting on in years," "Why did this happen to me?" or "What next!" Such thoughts can be overcome through consistent prayer that acknowledges our inseparability from God.

One approach I have found helpful is to love my way out of difficulties. God's love frees us from struggles of every description, and as we strive to express more of this divinely based love, we are beginning to walk through instead of staying in the valley of our troubles.

Love-inspired prayer enables us to feel God's presence in our lives. It certainly helped me to face the problems I mentioned earlier. Turning to a portion of a familiar hymn, I rejoiced in the words "The freer step, the fuller breath, / The wide horizon's grander view." ^{Christian Science Hymnal, No. 218.} I realized that at no point was I walking through any problem with another or because of another. My experience was individual, not subject to anyone but God. Walking and praying through it did not necessarily mean bringing another individual with me. Nor was it useful for me to insert myself into another's experience. Through this reasoning I felt less burdened. I seemed to have a "freer step" and a "grander view." Prayer is a freeing process.

Clinging to the fact that God's child is never really youthful nor aging but is always perfectly spiritual, I felt lifted up, freed from belief in a material aging process.

Science and Health gives us an insight into the importance of choosing spirituality. It says, "The sinner makes his own hell by doing evil, and the saint his own heaven by doing right." ^{Science and Health, p. 266.} I told myself, "I have a choice, and I am going to take the freedom of ageless, sinless man."

Each of us can choose spirituality, with its freedom from the challenges of age, discouragement, and disappointment. As we pray, we begin to perceive the radiance of Truth and Love, God's presence with us. God's law will support and govern our progress as we strive to understand and be obedient to it. The Christ will guide us through the valley of matter and mortal beliefs. It will lead us out of our troubles on the path of spiritual strength.