One morning in February 2007, I woke up with great pain in my upper leg and groin area. I then found I couldn't walk normally and became very fearful.

Among my first thoughts was the opening verse of a hymn from the Christian Science Hymnal:

Thinking about these wonderful ideas helped lift my fear. I realized that no matter what bodily inharmony seemed to be going on, I could trust God to heal me.

Though dealing with considerable discomfort, I was very grateful during this period to be able to continue with my regular schedule at work, as well as spend time caring for my grandchildren. However, wearing shoes was challenging, and it was especially difficult to walk up and down stairs. Two of my friends insisted that I needed to see a doctor, and while I knew they had my best interests at heart, I began to limit my contact with them in order to avoid bringing undue focus to my physical condition, not wanting to encounter resistance to my reliance on prayer alone for healing.

The prayerful help of a Christian Science practitioner throughout this experience provided me with priceless support as I prayed to understand more of my spiritual wholeness and the physical freedom this included. I also gained much inspiration from the healing accounts that I read in the Christian Science magazines and heard at the Wednesday evening testimony meetings at my branch church. Using concordances to the Bible and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, I studied ref erences on walking and leaning on God. I knew I could trust in His perpetual protection and care. Little by little I began to glimpse the spiritual foundation supporting every function that we commonly consider physical, including movement, and that God's allness allows no opportunity for pain or limited activity.

Although I continued to pray earnestly, I remember at one point feeling so drained and very afraid that this problem would not be healed that I called a close relative for encouragement and solace. She told me how much God loves each one of His children—and that included me. There was so much spiritual confidence and compassion in her voice that I immediately felt God's presence right then and there, and the sense of desperation dissolved. That was a turning point.

A passage in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy that I had often thought about once again occurred to me as being central to the healing I was praying for: "Insist vehemently on the great fact which covers the whole ground, that God, Spirit, is all, and that there is none beside Him. There is no disease" (p. 421). I realized that this truth would enable me to wake up to the reality of my present spiritual harmony. I had divine authority for rejecting the validity of pain. Science and Health further instructs, "Deny the existence of matter, and you can destroy the belief in material conditions" (p. 368). I realized that putting this idea into practice involved fervently acknowledging that all true substance is spiritual and safe in God. On that basis, I could deny the claim that our well-being is defined, determined, or in any way controlled by material conditions.

One night I woke up thinking about Jesus' healing work and the words he'd used to describe the false, material concept of man's origin. He said, "For he [the devil] is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). Then I saw that what I'd been struggling with was nothing more than a misstatement about God's creation—an untruth to be eradicated from thought with the understanding that my true being was in fact the perpetual reflection, the likeness, of His perfection.

In the weeks that followed, I remained joyfully steadfast in affirming the spiritual truths that I knew to be the source of my health and activity.

Sticking with this prayer, I had a complete healing. All the fear, discomfort, and discouragement dissolved, and I've been able to move freely and painlessly ever since.

I thank our Father-Mother God daily for all the blessings that have come into my experience through the study of this healing Science.

VICKI KNICKERBOCKER
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, US