Article August 23, 1999 Issue

Help always at hand

Injured hand healed through prayer

By Sharon Slaton Howell

I Had Just Turned from an alleyway between two shops when bam! a boy on a bicycle who was racing another boy (on the sidewalk, no less) crashed into me. This not only knocked me to the ground, but also injured one of my hands in the process. It felt like a bone was broken. People gathered around to help, and though I felt shaken, I assured them I'd be all right. Before too long, I was able to get to the parking lot, then drive myself home.

The pain was intense. But I knew from years of being helped by the teachings of Christian Science that God is always present to heal us. I felt confident relying totally on this spiritual power rather than seeking medical treatment. Although the first night was rough, I prayed fervently to realize my selfhood as God's spiritual image and likeness. I reminded myself that man as made by God—my true and only identity—was spiritual, not material, and not subject to physical suffering. I was able to use my hand a little by the next evening. Regaining complete strength and normality took longer, however. So, I kept knowing what was true about me as God's perfect idea. I continued praying for several more weeks.

The turning point in my complete healing came when I glimpsed clearly the unreality of the accident. The truth of something that Mary Baker Eddy points out in Science and Health lighted up spiritually for me one day. She writes, "Spiritual facts are not inverted; the opposite discord, which bears no resemblance to spirituality, is not real" (p. 207). (I've italicized the part that stood out to me so strongly.)

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