Athlete competes successfully, free of earlier injury

Julia Vognild Allen

There are many opportunities to prove God's healing power. Recently I hurt my back playing soccer. It was very painful, and I could hardly walk.

That week a powerful statement in Science and Health had stood out to me: "Your thought is more powerful than your words, more powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury real" (p. 397). This reminds us that nothing is outside of our control. It is up to us to choose to believe in a lie (what the mortal senses tell us), or the truth (the reality of our spiritual identity).

When I ran, I was free. I won the two-mile race.

The same page states, "Declare that you are not hurt and understand the reason why. ..." I thought to myself, I am God's child, the image and likeness of God. I cannot feel or experience anything but what God feels, because God is all good, perfect, and free. Therefore, putting my trust wholeheartedly in God is not a risk.

A couple of days went by, and my progress felt slow. However, with treatment from a Christian Science practitioner and my own spiritual yearning to get better, I was getting a clearer understanding of my true identity as God's perfect child. My body would have to yield to my thought, just as a dog tags along with its master. There's only one divine law, one master that guides and governs all. I expected the full healing because it was my divine right!

I persisted in prayer and was confident the healing would come. By the middle of the week, I was able to run, but I still wasn't completely free of pain. That Friday, I had a track meet (league finals), and finishing in the top three in my events would qualify me to advance to the California Interscholastic Federation—a highly competitive regional meet. Then, depending on how I placed, I could qualify to go to the state meet. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to run or not, but I was praying to know that I couldn't be deprived of anything good, and that God's work is finished and complete.

Friday rolled around, and I felt confident that I could run (confiding in God, not personal pride). As I warmed up, I sang these words from a hymn: "Take my feet, and let them be / Swift and beautiful for Thee" (Christian Science Hymnal, No. 324). I wasn't running to impress or just to advance to the next meets. I was running to express God, letting no distractions of a back injury hinder my movement. When I stepped up to the starting line, I was focused and mentally prepared. When I ran, I was free. I won the two-mile race and finished in second place in a close race in the mile. I had no further pain in my back. I ran in the races that followed, culminating in the state meet. These "achievements" just come along with the eternal blessings of prayer.

Julia Vognild Allen
Fountain Valley, California

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Testimony of Healing

Full range of motion restored following a fall

December 13, 1999

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