Article March 4, 2002 Issue

HEALED IN CHURCH

Jewel Simmons

For a couple of years, my wrists hurt. Using a computer or doing housework made them sore afterward. Soon I became on guard—careful not to strain them or bend them too far. I wore a sports brace before some activities and eliminated other activities altogether, like bicycling. I was doing an awful lot to accommodate the problem—but not a lot to solve it!

Then one wrist became much worse, and my use of it very limited. I would wake up in the morning in pain. I began trying to sleep on my back, to be sure I wasn't bending or putting pressure on it. I couldn't drive to work without wrapping it tightly in a sports brace. I wondered what the diagnosis would be if I went and had it checked out.

One day on the phone, I asked my mom if she would help me pray. I was, frankly, worried that this was carpal tunnel syndrome, which I knew some people have surgery to correct. She observed that the prefix syn in the word syndrome is also found in the word synonym, and means "together at the same time." I was familiar with synonyms given for God in Science and Health, such as Life, Truth, and Love. I started praying that the only power we (Mom and I) would choose to recognize would be the power of God as it is expressed in those synonyms. God was the source of all activity in my life, and the flow of this activity could not be stopped.

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