Pain and stiffness healed

Susan Lynn Knapp

I have had many healings through reliance on Christian Science, and would like to relate two that I experienced recently. One day I woke to pain and stiffness in both of my hands. At first, I was surprised and then perplexed that I should be experiencing what appeared to be arthritis. Then I recalled seeing a television commercial for some kind of medicine in which this belief had been presented very vividly. I began praying immediately.

Science and Health states: "Anatomy, when conceived of spiritually, is mental self-knowledge, and consists in the dissection of thoughts to discover their quality, quantity, and origin. Are thoughts divine or human? That is the important question" (p. 462). I decided to begin immediately to watch my thinking more carefully and to allow only Godlike thoughts to enter. As I read the Lesson-Sermon, found in the Christian Science Quarterly, and then went about my day, whenever the thought of pain suggested itself, I declared, "There is no pain in Truth, and no truth in pain ..." (ibid., p. 113). I also held to my true, spiritual identity as God's image and likeness. I considered that hands express spiritual ideas, which include flexibility, coordination, and beauty.

The pain in my shoulder left, and I was healed.

After I had prayed for several weeks, the pain suddenly disappeared as quickly as it had come. However, in the next few days, I developed a pain in my shoulder. Movement was uncomfortable and restricted. I had just been healed of one false belief about myself, and it seemed as though here was another challenge to deal with. It occurred to me that I should deal with beliefs of age and what mortal mind would say happens at various stages of our lives. I claimed my freedom from these false beliefs by holding to my innocence and perfection as an idea of God. The healing I had just experienced with my hands proved to me that my true identity is spiritual, not material.

I read these words in the Bible: "In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me" (Ps.56:4). I saw the last section of that quotation in a new light. I was not being told to accept pain stoically and to be brave in the face of it. Instead, I saw clearly that I do not need to fear anything about the flesh, or a material body, because flesh, can do nothing. It has no power and no control over me. I am God's spiritual child, and I can trust Him completely, right at this moment. The pain in my shoulder left, and I was healed.

I am so grateful to God for His loving care and for the truth of our spiritual oneness with Him. Mary Baker Eddy gave the world a precious gift when she discovered and shared Christian Science with us.

Susan Lynn Knapp
Ballwin, Missouri

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