Several years ago I was visiting a camp in the mountains of Colorado during a Christmas holiday. While walking in the snow at one point, I suddenly felt and heard a snap in my ankle. At first everything seemed all right, so I continued walking around. After a few hours, though, I decided to retire to my cabin (shared with a few other women) because of the growing discomfort and difficulty walking.

Surrounded by the total darkness and cold of the cabin, I was tempted to feel alone and fearful, and because of the pain, it was difficult to think. All I could do was open my heart completely to God and listen for the comforting messages He had for me.

Suddenly, I heard the voice of a cabin mate, who I had been unaware was also there in her own bunk at the time. She was a Christian Scientist, too, and suggested, unexpectedly, that I ponder the spiritual definition of Church given in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. Referring to three synonyms for God, it reads in part, “The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle” (p. 583).