Some months ago I was at my son's house, helping in the kitchen. I opened a large drawer full of cans and other cooking supplies, but I did it too forcefully, and the entire drawer—which was very heavy—fell on my foot. I was barefoot, and the pain was terrible. My foot immediately started to swell and change color.

Even as I cried out in pain, I remembered a passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy that says, "When an accident happens, you think or exclaim, 'I am hurt!' Your thought is more powerful than your words, more powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury real.

"Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt and understand the reason why, and you will find the ensuing good effects to be in exact proportion to your disbelief in physics, and your fidelity to divine metaphysics, confidence in God as All, which the Scriptures declare Him to be" (p. 397).

Although I didn't remember every single word exactly as written, the ideas came to me clearly. Immediately I put them into practice. I told my son not to worry, that I was all right. Praying and thinking about these ideas, I continued to do what I had been doing, remembering other passages from Science and Health and lines from my favorite hymns. There were moments when I started to think: "I have to drive many miles to get home tonight. How am I going to do that? Will I be able to put on my shoes? Will I be able to step on the clutch?"

When these thoughts came to me, I replaced them with the truth that God cared for me every single minute and that nothing could remove me from the kingdom of God. After eating, I decided to take a walk in the neighborhood, as I always do when visiting my son. I admired the sunset and thanked God for all the beauty around me. I tried to keep praying this way the entire time.

When the time came to go home, I was able to put on my shoes and drive without any problems. When I got home, my foot looked completely normal. There was still some pain, but by the next day there was no sign of injury.

Some time before this healing, I had been praying to overcome grief after my husband passed on. I had asked a practitioner of Christian Science to pray with me to heal this sadness. I was greatly comforted by studying the Christian Science Bible Lessons found in the Christian Science Quarterly, reading Science and Health, and reading the words from some hymns, especially No. 350, which says, "Through the love of God our Saviour / All will be well."

Many steps had to be taken in connection with my husband's financial affairs. My children had given me some checkbooks to put away until we were ready to finalize matters with the bank. Some weeks later, my daughter asked me for the checkbooks, and I couldn't remember where they were; I even got concerned that I might have thrown them away. I became very worried but decided I could refuse to feel that way. I started to look for the checkbooks in all the drawers and closets but couldn't find them anywhere.

Then I stopped looking and started to pray. The subject of that week's Bible Lesson was "Mind," which is a synonym for God. I knew that Mind never forgets. It is all-seeing and all-knowing. Nothing is hidden from this divine Mind. I handed the problem over to God, completely. Then I felt peaceful and calm. A few minutes later I felt a strong impulse to go look in a specific drawer as if someone were leading by the hand. There were the checkbooks. I had already searched that drawer and hadn't seen them. It was prayer that opened my eyes. This tangible sign of God's presence was also a step forward for me in putting an end to my grieving.

Annabella L. Barella
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil