For some time I had on my forehead what I would describe as a flat wart. It didn’t cause any pain and wasn’t noticeable as long as I used a little makeup and wore my hair in a way that covered it. Then I noticed in some photos taken outdoors that the wind had blown my hair, and there was the wart front and center. It was time to stop ignoring the problem.

In my prayers I affirmed my purity as a beloved reflection of God, divine Love, and the total inability of anything unlike Love to attach itself to this reflection. As Hymn 64 from the Christian Science Hymnal says, “The loveliness of Love is all around” (Violet Hay, © CSBD).

I also gave a lot of thought to this passage from Mary Baker Eddy’s Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896: “Are we clearing the gardens of thought by uprooting the noxious weeds of passion, malice, envy, and strife? Are we picking away the cold, hard pebbles of selfishness, uncovering the secrets of sin and burnishing anew the hidden gems of Love, that their pure perfection shall appear?” (p. 343).