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Foot injury healed
One evening early last fall I noticed that one of my feet was discolored and swollen. I was walking with a limp and felt comfortable wearing sandals to work rather than covered shoes. Clearly, something was wrong.
Initially, my response was a barrage of questions. Which part of my foot had been injured? How serious was the injury? When did this happen? What was the cause? What was I going to do about it?
For a few moments I attempted to answer those questions. I couldn’t diagnose the problem. But I did suspect that the swelling was a delayed reaction to a particularly difficult hike up a 14,000-foot mountain three weeks earlier. My boots were less effective than usual at protecting my feet from miles of rocky trail. I had ended the hike in pain, but through prayer, the pain had been healed. But now I wondered if I had been injured in some other way.
As a student of Christian Science, I knew from experience that doctoring the foot, or praying to heal a physical injury, was not an effective way of experiencing complete healing. Christian Science shows that evidence of physical inharmony is an illusion, a distraction by the material senses, that pulls thought away from God and His perfect, spiritual creation. I needed to address the discord in thought. Mary Baker Eddy describes the process in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “One whom I res- cued from seeming spiritual oblivion, in which the senses had engulfed him, wrote to me: ‘. . . The ailment was not bodily, but mental, and I was cured when I learned my way in Christian Science’ ” (pp. 382–383).
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
May 2, 2011 issue
View Issue-
Letters
Cicely Gallagher, Madelon Maupin, David Thorburn-Gundlach, Virginia Stopfel
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We can trust God—with our life
Ingrid Peschke, Managing Editor
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The flip side of gambling
Bertina B. Norford
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Waking to the nature of the Christ
Michael Hamilton
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Shelter from the storm
By Betty H. Thompson
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Calm in the midst of wild winds
Rebekah Charlston
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God’s changeless, beautiful creation
By Robert R. MacKusick
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A saving power in times of need
By Deborah Huebsch
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Witness to Love’s blessing
By Jeffrey Plum
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Wearing the ‘garment of praise’
Bill Badger
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A path of blessings—for me and my son
Name removed by request
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Finding a home, guided by God
By Jennifer Johnson
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God’s plan covers all our needs
By Peggy Ricks
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My unforgettable summer
By Steve Bailey
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Let our church change
By Don Adams
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So much good going on
Joanne Bennett
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Foot injury healed
Bill Fabian
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Symptoms of malaria healed
Mayrene Bentley
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Freed from illness
Joseph Kilole Lifongo
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Deliver a mental knockout punch to fraud
The Editors