Knee problem gone

I served in the Brazilian military for the greater part of my career. A few years ago, after I retired, I started to work at a commercial enterprise. In this new occupation, the time available to me to have normal exercise was reduced to almost zero.

About two years into my retirement, when I resumed some of my physical activities such as running, my knees started to hurt. On one occasion, when I had run in the morning, by the afternoon both my knees felt very stiff. I had to make an effort just to bend my legs.

As a student of Christian Science, I am accustomed to leaning on prayer for the healing of every difficulty, including physical conditions. I have learned that dysfunction of any kind comes down to a mistaken sense of our true being, which is spiritual—made in the image and likeness of God.

That afternoon I made an effort to lift my thought to God in prayer, knowing that, as God’s reflection, I am spiritual and cannot be mesmerized by the suggestion that I live in matter and can suffer from it by being limited in my movement, or in any other way. If I could be limited in any way, I would be expressing finiteness—the hypothetical and unreal opposite of God, infinite Spirit. And that is not possible.

As a result of my prayer, I found some relief from the pain and stiffness. However, whenever I ran I was afraid that my knees would become stiff again, and then pain would return.

Even so, I continued to affirm that I couldn’t suffer for doing something good and natural, which also brought me enjoyment.

On one occasion when I was running and fear tried to take possession of my thought again, this passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy came to mind: “Our Master asked: ‘How can one enter into a strong man’s house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?’ In other words: How can I heal the body, without beginning with so-called mortal mind, which directly controls the body? When disease is once destroyed in this so-called mind, the fear of disease is gone, and therefore the disease is thoroughly cured” (pp. 399–400 ).

I realized that in spiritual healing, first the carnal mind (see Romans 8:7 ), or the “strong man,” must be bound, or eliminated. This mind, or what Mrs. Eddy refers to as mortal mind, of which fear is an element, supports the belief that there is a power opposed to God that can limit us or rob us of our spiritual freedom. Yet it’s interesting to note that it is this false belief that is bound, not God’s child. Our freedom is God-given and has no bounds, and therefore, no limits. When we see this, fear is eliminated, the symptoms of disease vanish, and we are healed.

As I prayed along these lines, I gradually overcame the fear of physical repercussions from exercise. Then, one day in December 2011, I realized that I was running without a thought about my knees, or about ever having a problem with them. Ever since then, I have run long distances with complete freedom from pain, demonstrating, in a practical way, my spiritual perfection and the blessings that God always gives us.

Talban Frizotti
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil