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Injured knee healed
In the Gospel of John, Christ Jesus says to his followers, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (8:31, 32).
I remember the first time I was able to demonstrate this biblical promise in my life. I was playing in a game of soccer, and while running for the ball down the sideline, I ran up against the spectator seating, which consisted of old wooden railway sleepers (ties) benched up along the side of the field. I crashed into the sleepers with my knee. It was badly cut, and the pain was excruciating. My friends came to assist me, and I told them I would go off to the changeroom. As I walked off the field, I started thinking to myself what I would do in the changeroom. The answer was, Pray. My life as a Christian Scientist had taught me to turn to the understanding of my true identity, that of a child—a spiritual reflection—of God.
The thought came to me to consider a specific sentence from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, written by the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy. The sentence is the first line of what Mrs. Eddy calls “the scientific statement of being,” and it reads, “There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter” (p. 468). I could claim this as true because of God’s infinite and all-powerful presence, which precludes the ills of the flesh. My actual life is in God, Spirit, not in matter. And since God is the only intelligence, how could my material body tell me anything? The only information I could be receptive to as true was what came as thoughts from our heavenly Father. The one supreme God knows only good for His beloved creation. He could not, would not, and did not create a suffering mortal.
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November 26, 2018 issue
View Issue-
From the readers
Barbara DeMaggio, H. M. Wyeth, Karen T. Hasek
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A spiritual remedy for gender-based violence
Monica B. Esefer Passaglia
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News of sexual harassment spurs a mother’s prayer
Name Withheld
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The peace that quiets the storm
Laura Bonnecarrere
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The power of sincerity
Laura Lapointe
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My Father’s care
Kevin Powers
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Praying about mental health
Deborah Huebsch
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Healing of fear after home invasion
Tupele-Ebi Diffa
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Injured knee healed
Louis E. Benjamin
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Reaction to wasp stings quickly healed
Linda Berckmann
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'The Lord is my shepherd ...'
Photograph by Cliff Leeker
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A clean slate for victims and abusers
Tony Lobl