One day during my vacation last summer, I was on my front porch picking Japanese beetles off a rose bush when I suddenly fell off the porch and onto the ground. I was dazed but immediately turned to the spiritual truth that man is “unfallen, upright, pure, and free,” as Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (p. 171). 

It was apparent that I had sprained my left ankle as well as my right knee when I fell. Having no cellphone with me to call for help, I needed to negotiate my way inside without the normal use of either leg. I thought back to an article I had read in the Sentinel just that morning titled “Rise” (Marilyn Wickstrom, June 26, 2017) in which the writer talked about feeling “a powerful surge of spiritual, mental might” that enabled her to take charge of her thought and resist the material claims. 

Taking this as an opportunity to lean on God, I was able to get inside and upstairs to bed, grabbing a copy of Science and Health on the way. By the time my husband came home, I was in extreme pain when I tried to move, but I was grateful that he did not insist on any kind of medical intervention. He had seen many Christian Science healings over the years and was confident that prayer would bring healing this time, too. 

The next few days were challenging, and I needed some assistance with moving about, but I spent every waking moment in dedicated study, either reading or listening to articles and lectures on Christian Science through the many resources available to us. I was so grateful for every single thing I heard or read. 

By Sunday my mobility had improved enough that I could get to church to teach Sunday School. But then progress seemed to stall. What did I need to learn to have a complete healing? Over the next few days, three things were revealed to me to handle in thought. After all, it’s always thought that needs to change.

Had I perhaps started feeling sorry for myself, since my vacation plans at home were now interrupted? That thought was quickly reversed when I reminded myself that taking this opportunity for deep prayer, study, and spiritual growth was the most important thing I could be doing. 

Also, a Sentinel testimony, “Leg injury and pride healed” (Elaine F. Zavodni-Sjoquist, June 26, 2017), really spoke to me. The writer mentions feeling smug after being praised for her athletic ability, and that made me think back to a trip I had taken earlier in the summer, when I’d completed many miles of walking each day and had let a bit of pride creep in. The ideas in this testimony helped me see the need for humility and self-awareness.

And in my regular reading of Science and Health, I had to laugh when I reached this sentence on page 426: “The discoverer of Christian Science finds the path less difficult when she has the high goal always before her thoughts, than when she counts her footsteps in endeavoring to reach it.” It was humorous because my cellphone came equipped with an app that tracked how many steps I took each day. Though I often ignored it, occasionally that sense of accomplishment would creep in, especially when the app praised me for the number of steps taken that day. I resolved to forget the step count and instead have the “high goal” of understanding man’s perfect spiritual being as God’s reflection always before me. 

On page 425 I read: “Consciousness constructs a better body when faith in matter has been conquered. Correct material belief by spiritual understanding, and Spirit will form you anew.” I was ready to be formed anew by keeping before me a goal much higher than the number of steps taken.

There were so many wonderful ideas from both the Bible and Science and Health that provided daily support. Whenever I felt pain in the knee, I thought about this verse from Isaiah: “Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees” (35:3). I claimed that God was my support, not my ankle or my knee. I also affirmed that Christian Science provides a firm foundation that I could count on. I could expect to be healed completely, not partially.

I cannot begin to express enough gratitude for every resource our church provides that supported me during this experience. For example, even the title of a Christian Science lecture, “Step out of your story and into healing,” provided food for thought. I was certainly ready to step out of the story of injury presented to me by the material senses and to instead “walk before God in the light of the living” (Psalms 56:13). I reminded myself of this multiple times each day, until I was indeed stepping into the true story of my spiritual being, with no bodily limitations.

After getting back to a normal walking routine within a week and enjoying an early-morning bike ride, I knew the healing was complete, and it was time to share my gratitude. This was an important healing for me, since a sprained ankle I had about six years ago took months to heal. The difference this time was that I gave much more diligent attention to my spiritual being as God’s reflection.

Fenna Corry
Greensboro, North Carolina, US