A few years ago I woke up feeling stiff and with a sore back, after having tripped and fallen down a flight of stairs the day before. I had a busy day ahead because it was a local holiday and I was planning to take my son to Stirling Castle, a historic building in Scotland dating back over 600 years. I read the Christian Science Bible Lesson—a weekly Bible study guide—and prayed about the discomfort before setting out on our day trip; and while I managed, the next day I found it almost impossible to move. I ended up sleeping and fretting about my lack of mobility. 

There is a lot in the media these days about back pain and how it continues once someone suffers from it. This was certainly not something I wanted to entertain. And having been a Christian Scientist all my life, I knew that God would guide me in my prayers for healing. 

Eventually, I summoned up the energy to read the Bible Lesson again, and then I went through the “Daily Prayer” in the Church Manual (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 41), and also looked through some notes from a recent Christian Science association meeting. Initially I could not concentrate on anything as the pain was so acute. I certainly was not up to attending my usual masters swimming lesson that day.

Finally, I decided it was right to call a Christian Science practitioner to ask for spiritual treatment. A passage she highlighted in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy was especially helpful to me. It says: “… we can become conscious, here and now, of a cessation of death, sorrow, and pain. This is indeed a foretaste of absolute Christian Science. Take heart, dear sufferer, for this reality of being will surely appear sometime and in some way. There will be no more pain, and all tears will be wiped away. When you read this, remember Jesus’ words, ‘The kingdom of God is within you.’ This spiritual consciousness is therefore a present possibility” (pp. 573–574). This spoke to me so clearly since I felt like that “sufferer.” I had had tears with the pain, and it was so good to have the promise that this spiritual consciousness is a present possibility.

Other passages from both the Bible and Science and Health were like waymarks on a journey from the belief of existence in matter to a joyous freedom as God’s painless, perfect expression of Himself. 

In the evening I went to a music practice with friends. The practice involves a lot of standing, and I was grateful to be able to do that. It was an important incremental step forward in evidencing my freedom.

Next morning I was able to move around much more freely, but the fear of pain was a constant. When I spoke to the practitioner again, she pointed me towards Hymn 326 in the Christian Science Hymnal about the Christian warrior. It describes how he (or she) has the armor of God: the “panoply of truth,” “faith’s broad shield,” and so on. In the third verse it says, “With this omnipotence he moves” (James Montgomery, Christian Science Hymnal).

I prayed with that hymn on and off during the day. It was a great comfort knowing that I, too, moved with this omnipotence. It took away the sense of apprehension about moving. In fact, I was able to drive and take a friend to a function, for which I was grateful. 

The following day I was able to do a walk with a friend around a loch, as I realized I live and move in God, in the harmony of divine Mind. I was free. 

A week later I was able to do the masters swimming session of a mile in length, which included several lengths of the butterfly stroke, and not one twinge. I truly was free—able to express my God-given freedom in grace, in joy. 

This has been a landmark healing for me for which I am profoundly grateful.

Janet Finlayson
South Queensferry, Scotland