"There are no accidents in God's kingdom." This thought came to me as I was lying in a hospital emergency room, undergoing X-rays after I was hit by a car while crossing a street at an intersection. Right on the heels of that thought came this one: "If there are no accidents in God's kingdom, neither can there be any effects from an accident."

The prime witness, an off-duty employee of a local ambulance company, had described the impact as throwing me so that I landed on the pavement on my head. He immediately called 911 on his cellular phone, moved his car to block traffic so as to protect me, and rushed to my side. He cautioned me to lie still, explaining that I had a large head wound that was bleeding generously, and that I must certainly have also received other injuries.

In addition to my prayer for myself, I found out later my wife had been praying for me.

X-rays revealed no fractures other than a crack in my collarbone. Emergency room personnel cleaned the scrapes and bruises on my face and hands and stitched up the head wound. They warned me of possible concussion and its symptoms. I had identified myself as a Christian Scientist and said that I wanted no medication; this request they respected, and I walked from the emergency room to the waiting area, where my wife was to pick me up.

When I walk in the morning, I often pray. That morning I had been pondering the "Daily Prayer" and "A Rule for Motives and Acts," both from the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy, Article VIII, Sections 4 and 1. I'd been seeking an awareness of the presence and power of God.

I was grateful for the protection I had already felt. I soon learned, however, that I needed to expand my understanding of God's care for man, and to reject the common beliefs about the effects of physical impact. Although I had walked from the emergency room with only a slight limp, within hours I found that I could hardly lift my left leg and foot, which along with other parts of my body had become sore and swollen. I needed a cane just to get around the house.

The Christian Science practitioner I asked to treat me in prayer cautioned that he and I must not attempt to change matter, but to change thought—to gain more understanding of God's law. He also directed my study toward rejecting as false the general belief about how accidents affect the body. This was an act of defending myself against mental malpractice and animal magnetism, which involve the illusion that man is mortal rather than spiritual.

In a few days I no longer needed a cane. Facial scabs and bruises rapidly disappeared. In two weeks I resumed my duties as First Reader in my church. A month later my wife and I took a long-planned two-thousand-mile trip to Canada for a convention, during which I was able to carry my own luggage. Complete recovery came step by step, and I resumed all of my normal activities over a period of several weeks, with no lapse in progress.

Two incidents in the healing process stand out:

First, when I had just arrived home and engaged a practitioner, I began to experience symptoms associated with concussion. My wife called the practitioner back, and he spoke to me for several minutes, repeating "the scientific statement of being" (see Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, p. 468). By the time he had finished this statement concerning man's good, spiritual identity, the crisis was over and there was no further indication of any concussion.

Second, eight days after the accident I had the doctor remove stitches from my scalp. By then most of the scabs and bruises had disappeared from my face, but he noticed an unrelated area beneath my nose that appeared, he said, to have "an eczemalike infection." He mentioned a couple of medications.

I chose to rely on Christian Science, and within twenty-four hours the condition cleared entirely.

As happy as I am for this healing, I appreciate even more the increased understanding of the power and presence of God that Christian Science has brought to me.

Kenneth Wilber Clinefelter
Lincoln, Nebraska

On that morning I boarded a bus to go downtown to a Senior Center where I am a volunteer. En route the "regulars" were talking about the bus having been rerouted around an accident. I quietly did some praying to affirm that God is always in charge of His creation and that no accidents can occur in God's kingdom; that all of God's ideas are safe and unharmed. It was a brief prayer.

Upon reaching my destination I tried to phone home to my husband. No answer. He normally showers after his early morning walk, so I waited about twenty minutes and tried again. No answer. As I had mentioned the bus chatter, someone asked if my husband could have been in the accident. I firmly denied that he could suffer harm.

The phone rang, and it was a call from the emergency room at the hospital. A young woman immediately drove me home to get my car so I could go and collect my husband. I continued my prayers as I went.

It has been wonderful to see this healing occur before my eyes, and to be able to take the long trip to Canada and back just a few weeks later. God does indeed care for all His children, and this was just another of the many proofs this family has had over the years.

Jo A. Clinefelter