On the road again

Kristin A. Jamerson

Three years ago I rode in a weeklong bike tour covering 500 miles of rural Oregon. It was an exhilarating and remarkable adventure. But near the end of the tour, my knees began to hurt. At the time, I thought it was because of the strenuous cycling and figured the pain would go away when I eased up on riding. It didn't, so over the next year I tapered off on my bike time.

In May of 2000, I decided to sign up for the Oregon bike tour again and had four months to train for it. I took my bike to the shop for a spring tune-up and mentioned the discomfort I had in my knees when riding. I said I wondered if my pedals or seat height needed adjusting to take pressure off my knee joints. The technician did make a few tweaks to my bike, but he also recounted a friend's struggle with this type of knee pain—and said it could only be corrected by surgery.

I decided it was time to pray about this problem and heal it.

I decided it was time to pray about this problem and heal it. I had been just getting by, tolerating the discomfort, thinking that with time my knees would recover from the stress. But now I knew I needed to get a clear spiritual perspective of myself so that this could be healed.

Instead of being afraid that I had done a lot of damage to my knees, I prayed to realize more fully than ever that God, who is Spirit, Was the structure and substance of my entire being. I prayed to stop believing that I was limited by what my body could endure. And I knew I could do this by comprehending that God had given me unlimited freedom and ability.

All summer I trained and prayed, and yet the pain persisted. At one point I almost canceled my participation in the bike tour. But as I continued to read the Bible and Science and Health, my conviction was deepened that I was not restricted by any physiological laws but was completely free to express Spirit. I focused on preparing spiritually for the bike tour.

Then, during the last few weeks before the start of the tour—when I was putting in my longest rides of the summer—the pain disappeared, never to return.

I was overjoyed to have the physical freedom and the spiritual inspiration to begin the bike tour. In fact, during that week I had an immediate healing of another difficulty.

We had completed a 70-mile ride through the high desert, and after I set up my tent, I was unable to eat because I felt sick. I had an issue of The Christian Science Journal with me and was reading an article about not being a slave to the mental conditions that cause sickness. I knew I had to abolish mental slavery. I could prove that I was not subservient to heat, dehydration, or even pride about accomplishing this bike ride. I was freeborn—of Spirit—not a slave to physical circumstances.

In the article, I read this Bible quote: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18). I felt God's power right there with me in my tent in that remote little town. I felt impelled to free myself from the fear of these symptoms and to live within the law of Spirit, where there is no sickness.

When I woke up the next morning, I was completely well. I ate a huge breakfast and rode 60 miles that day. The rest of the trip was excellent, filled with fresh expressions of energy, endurance, and freedom. I continue to enjoy cycling—with no pain—and am grateful to God for this enduring healing.

Kristin A. Jamerson
Mercer Island,
Washington

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