STANDING TALL

BY ANJULI GRAUNKE

I was living away from home for the summer, doing an internship prior to my sophomore year in college. One bright, sunny Saturday my roommate and I decided it was perfect for rollerblading. We strapped on our skates and set out for the afternoon.

I was enjoying the day, until gravel suddenly lodged in the wheels of one of my skates. One foot stopped moving while the other kept going forward. I landed hard on the sidewalk, and during the impact my sunglasses broke, cutting my forehead deeply.

Immediately I turned my thoughts to prayer. I'd grown up in a home environment where praying for healing, using the principles of Christian Science, was natural and effective. So as I lay on the sidewalk, the first thought that came to me was something Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health: "Accidents are unknown to God ..." (p. 424). (The entire statement says, "Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God's unerring direction and thus bring out harmony.") I was very familiar with this statement, but up until the moment of my fall, I hadn't thought about its tremendous healing power. I reasoned that since God created all and since He is all good, I knew I couldn't possibly fall out of His realm of protection. I also held firmly to the idea that my appreciation for the beauty of the day couldn't be tarnished by an accident. I never felt any pain at this time, or at any other time during this experience.