From Teens July 15, 2019 Issue

Shut the door on pain

Camille Clarke

It was a perfect spring day. The air was cool and fresh, but the bright sun was warm. As I walked to the bus stop, though, something wasn’t quite right: I noticed pain and soreness in my legs.

My first thought about the pain might sound a little surprising: It was that the pain couldn’t be true, couldn’t be part of me. That might sound like denying a problem, but I wasn’t kidding myself. I knew I didn’t have to be in pain, because in the Christian Science Sunday School I’ve learned that I am God’s child, perfect, spiritual, and totally cared for, and that means I am always safe—free from pain.

I knew I could keep praying with these ideas and find healing, but every time I tried to pray, I would get interrupted by my friends or normal school activities. I decided to deal specifically with the issue later, but as I went through my day of math, Spanish, science, and art, I tried to hold firmly to the fact that God could not make this pain, as He is only good. Since the pain didn’t come from God, who is all-power, it couldn’t have any power.

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