Just some, or our whole trust in God?

Alice Berschauer Howell

My high school's district gymnastics meet was fast approaching. We would be competing against the best teams in the district to determine who would go to the state meet. Our team had made great progress in the previous few years, and we were now one of the top two teams in our league. I was one of a handful on the team who would participate in all four events—balance beam, floor exercise, uneven parallel bars, and vault—so it was crucial that I be healthy for the competition. The trouble was that I had badly injured my knee and was having difficulty walking, let alone practicing my routines.

I had been attending the Christian Science Sunday School, so it was natural for me to turn to God in prayer for healing. My mom and I talked about how we could rely on God, Spirit, knowing that my strength came from Him—and not from muscles. We talked about what a good activity gymnastics was, and all the ways I expressed God when doing it.

The Bible tells us that God created man in His image and likeness. Mary Baker Eddy says in Science and Health: "Matter is not that likeness. The likeness of Spirit cannot be so unlike Spirit. Man is spiritual and perfect; and because he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so understood in Christian Science" (p. 475). I needed to see that as God's perfect child I could only reflect His qualities—beauty, grace, strength, joy, health. Injury and weakness are not part of God's creation; therefore the suggestion that I could be experiencing them was a lie.

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