BACK AND RIB PAIN HEALED

JANE E. FITZGERALD

Earlier this summer, while concerned with work and personal responsibilities, I found myself trying to ignore a nagging discomfort in the side of my back. What first appeared as an annoying ache morphed into a burning sensation in my rib cage as well. Though I continued working and remained active, this pain often prevented me from finding any comfortable position in which to sit or lie for any length of time.

As a student of Christian Science, I felt confident that by claiming in prayer the powerlessness of the pain, and by better understanding that nothing could alter my perfection as God's child, normalcy would be naturally restored. I knew nothing could separate me from my true spiritual heritage. The Bible declares, "I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord" (Jer. 30:17).

I humbly prayed and sought Love's inspiration. Even when I could not sleep at night, my thought was calmed by companioning with the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Beatitudes, along with "the scientific statement of being" found on page 468 of Science and Health. These spiritual truths sustained me; however, the pain was persistent, and after several days, my husband became more concerned about my well-being.

I started to mentally search for something in my thought that might be manifesting itself in my experience. I now realize that I had mistakenly accepted this pain as caused by something on the human scene, and, just as Adam, I meant to name it. For a time, my thought was inundated with TV ads and friends' casual talk of fears about body wear and tear, as I rotated through possibilities as to what "my" ailment might be. On the Internet, one is only a click away from myriad descriptions and pictures of injury and disease—how tempting it was to look up my symptoms! Despite having had many prior healings in my life to support me, I was sorely tempted to believe that the condition was to be feared.

Several days later, in reading that week's Christian Science Bible Lesson, I was stopped cold by this citation: "Fear never stopped being and its action" (Science and Health, p. 151). I reasoned that my unique, spiritual expression of Truth and Love was intact at this very moment, so why would I allow fear to make me cling to a false picture or to validate a belief that the physical ailment needed to be identified and named? I called a Christian Science practitioner for help in seeing myself more clearly, and her loving prayer—affirming that I was perfect and spiritual and knew it—exposed no need for a "witch hunt."

As I prayed, I saw my individual, perfect connection with God alone. There is no breach in this connection, and the physical senses have no power to influence God, Truth. Cause belongs to God—the "All-in-all"—and does not exist in matter (see Science and Health, p. 262). I express that truth. It was important for me to hold to this clear understanding, which refutes all error. I gained peace, standing my ground by replacing each tempting fearful thought with the assertion: "You are perfect and spiritual and know it."

After about three days, it was clear to me that the prayerful work and the practitioner's support were effective. It should come as no surprise that soon I felt fully liberated from any discomfort as well, and I continued my work and personal responsibilities with freedom.

For this clear confirmation that God is the only Cause, I am truly grateful. My life has been filled with demonstrations of healing, for which I freely give full credit to God and to Christian Science.

JANE E. FITZGERALD
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, US

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