Testimony of Healing November 17, 2008 Issue

PAIN AND IMMOBILITY HEALED

TORI DELL

One evening, while I was at a get-together with friends, I began to feel an uncomfortable sensation in one of my arms. Later that night, the pain had increased to the point that I had difficulty sleeping. In the morning, I wasn't able to raise my arm easily to get dressed, but managed, with help, to get ready for work. In addition to my early-morning prayer and study, several times during the day I took a few moments to again affirm my relationship to God and to counter the evidence of pain and immobility that I knew had no origin in Him. I stayed at work all day, but the discomfort remained pretty intense.

When I'd read the Christian Science Bible Lesson that morning, I'd particularly considered the story of Jacob wrestling with a man until the break of day (see Gen. 32:24-30). The Bible mentions that "the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him."Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, explains that Jacob was engaged in a mental and spiritual struggle to gain a clearer sense of life in Spirit, instead of matter (see pp. 308-309). I felt that I also had some wrestling to do.

I decided to call Christian Science practitioner to pray with me. One concern that I mentioned to her was that I might miss more work. I had recently needed to take a month off because of a family emergency, and had only been back at work for two days when this new challenge presented itself. An idea we talked about from Science and Health was this encouraging promise: "Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself" (p. 385). I'd assumed that this referred to everyday responsibilities—fulfilling our obligations at work or school or home. The practitioner helped me realize that sometimes our obligations are to God, to get to know Him better, to acknowledge more of our unbroken relationship with Him, and to recognize more of His tender care. This helped me see that I could stop worrying about what my co-workers would think if I had to take time off again. So I felt free to devote myself to further prayer and study.

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