Article February 22, 2010 Issue

Free to think clearly

BY JOE GARIANO

I HAD AN experience that propelled my spiritual progress and helped me gain a deeper understanding of prayer in Christian Science. This understanding continues to be a healing force in my life.

I work as a software engineer, and our company was stretched thin trying to complete a project for a customer. One day, a co-worker expressed the concern that even though we were making good progress, the customer might make future requests that would be difficult for us to handle—for example, asking for detailed reports on different phases of the project. I knew such requests were unlikely, but my co-worker was afraid nonetheless, and his fear rubbed off on me.

I spent the next several days worrying that our customer would make those requests, and trying to plan all the different ways we would cope with them. This fear and rumination won the hand in my thinking, distracting me at work and making me uneasy at home. Eventually, I brought up the issue with my wife, and asked her for help through prayer.