Quick healing of finger
I was adjusting equipment for sit-ups at the exercise club when a whole ramp came off a bar and slammed down into the bottom metal brace, wedging the joint of my right index finger between the two. The pain was immediately excruciating, but I was able to move the equipment away and then sat for a moment praying. When I briefly glanced at my finger, it was bluish-purple and starting to swell. Rather than giving this picture my attention, I chose to turn my thought to God.
When an accident occurs, pictures of what seems to have happened and its effects, such as bruises or breaks, come immediately and vividly to thought. From my own experience I’ve found that this “picturing process” can make an accident more frightening and overwhelming, and its effects more difficult to heal. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy clarifies: “When an accident happens, you think or exclaim, ‘I am hurt!’ Your thought is more powerful than your words, more powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury real.
“Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt and understand the reason why, and you will find the ensuing good effects to be in exact proportion to your disbelief in physics, and your fidelity to divine metaphysics, confidence in God as All, which the Scriptures declare Him to be” (p. 397 ). I understood that we are free to immediately turn in thought to the spiritual truths about man as stated in the Bible. Man (a generic term that includes both men and women), created in the image and likeness of God (see Genesis 1:26, 27 ), is spiritual and perfect and can’t be injured or corrupted in any way.
I had been praying and working daily, and with joyous discipline, not to be taken in or overwhelmed by the drama of varied wrong suggestions or pictures about God’s creation. A relative in the hospital was experiencing pain in relation to an automobile accident, and I had been supporting him with some general, uplifting thoughts. I had also been doing the same for myself, praying to clear my thought and not accept an accident as a causal factor that limits God’s man. “So,” I said to myself, as I sat on the carpet, “this is an opportunity to prove what you’re saying.”
I moved to another piece of equipment and sat there praying. The story of Moses and the burning bush came to mind, in which Moses is told to take his shoes from his feet and be on holy ground (see Exodus 3:2–5 ). I determined to be on holy ground, even in a gym setting with a lot of noise. As I held my one hand in my other and turned away from the pain toward God, divine Principle, Soul, I knew I was on holy ground right there. Soul is the source of all experience, and Principle holds the whole universe and all space in harmonious action, with all of God’s spiritual ideas moving in complete harmony. In reality, ideas do not harm one another.
I thought of shadows crashing into each other without harm. Brushing one hand across the floor to look at the effect of shadows colliding, I smiled at the idea that a collision of shadows could harm. Mortal life is like a shadow; spiritual life is reality. I chose not to let this situation harm or limit me. This wasn’t will-power but reliance on the power of prayer that I had proved many times. Without observation of the finger, I went ahead and finished 20 more minutes of various exercises, all the while rejoicing in flexibility, freedom, and the radiance of activity that were God’s, and thus mine by reflection.
As I moved, I kept thinking about my spiritual perfection, which cannot be bound by fleshly limitations or material experiences. I took a shower and then went home, where I work using a computer keyboard. When I looked at the finger, its color was natural and the swelling was almost completely gone, as was the pain. By the next day, my finger was back to normal and I was typing away freely on a manuscript for hours. I was very grateful to share this healing with my family and also prove the goodness and all-encompassing power of God.
Kathryn Knox
Ft. Collins, Colorado, US
