Testimony of Healing February 22, 1993 Issue

A Recent Christian Science Bible Lesson on the subject of...

Mary-Jean Cowell

A Recent Christian Science Bible Lesson on the subject of "Life" included this passage from Proverbs: "A sound heart is the life of the flesh." A correlative citation from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy stated, "Of a man it has been said, 'As he thinketh in his heart, so is he;' hence as a man spiritually understandeth, so is he in truth." These two passages could summarize a healing that I experienced last spring.

One morning I found myself suffering from a severe strain or rupture in the abdominal area. Any movement, even breathing, was painful. There seemed to be no cause for this injury. Not long before this incident, a colleague had mentioned a similar injury and commented that working before it had healed could result in permanent damage. I realized that I had not, on the basis of Christian Science, resisted the suggestion that injuries are a predictable part of professional work in dance or athletics. As a dancer, I am usually more alert in establishing in my thought the spiritually scientific facts about movement; for instance, that it is safe and harmonious because man is a spiritual idea who reflects divine consciousness, substance, and action. Man is not a limited physical mind and body, governed by laws of matter. Applying what I understand of Christian Science to the beliefs about physical movement and muscle has almost entirely protected me from injury during many years of intense activity.

This situation was particularly alarming because it occurred about two weeks before I was to appear in a series of dance performances, and I was scheduled to rehearse for a minimum of three hours daily. I prayerfully considered my motives for performing. Because a substitute seemed out of the question, and because there seemed to be nothing inappropriate in my desire to perform, I reasoned that I had divine authority to expect to be able to dance.

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