In the fall of 2018, after what had seemed to be only a slight back-pulling injury, my condition rapidly worsened. At times I was nearly immobile and almost always in great physical discomfort. There were a couple of overseas trips already on my calendar, and with daily prayerful treatment from a Christian Science practitioner, I was able to complete both. Progress in healing was sporadic, however. Several times my condition worsened, and I began to wonder if I’d ever experience painless movement again.

From the beginning of this experience, Paul’s statement in Acts 17:28, “In [God] we live, and move, and have our being,” was a beacon. There was not a day that I did not claim that spiritual fact for myself. I found it especially helpful to read the accounts of spiritual healing in Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896 (see pp. 401–460) and in the chapter “Fruitage” in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures—both books by Mary Baker Eddy. I also began reading Science and Health again, chapter by chapter. 

Every day, through phone calls and email, I felt the loving support and encouragement of the practitioner. I prayed with spiritual truths about alignment, accord, harmony, and ability, and I strove to understand more clearly that alignment and movement stem not from muscles, bones, and nerves, but from God, Mind, the true source of all feeling and movement.