Release from suffering

In 1997, I changed careers. Although I fully understood the reasons behind this change of direction, doubt began to creep in, and I began to feel sorry for myself and sick. I was offered a teaching position, and although I felt impelled not to take it, I did. After the first day at the school, I found that I could barely walk. I rang the school to tell them that I would not be able to continue with my teaching contract. I sensed I needed to take time out to spend it with God. 

At the time, I also felt as though I were all alone with no one to talk to, and that no one really understood why I’d made the job change. I rang a wonderful Christian Science practitioner, who told me that God was giving me all His attention. It was exactly what I needed to hear. I was in quite a bit of pain, and the practitioner agreed to pray with me. It was becoming clearer to me that the pain I was experiencing was not in body, but in thought. The practitioner gave me the following passage from Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures to ponder: “The remedy consists in probing the trouble to the bottom, in finding and casting out by denial the error of belief which produces a mortal disorder, never honoring erroneous belief with the title of law nor yielding obedience to it” (p. 184). 

As I thought about that, I realized the importance of something the practitioner had also mentioned, that I must be grateful for and see the benefits of the time I’d spent training at my previous job, and realize that the time spent there had not been wasted. I knew that to be true, as I had wonderful experiences in this training, and the practitioner reminded me to focus on all the good. Seeing this helped, but for a few days the pain continued and it was still very difficult to walk. 

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From the Editors
Intelligent man
February 4, 2013
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