Rediscovering joy

Current news bulletins and continued pandemic restrictions can make it seem difficult to find much to be joyful about. But when I found myself struggling with feelings of depression recently, I recalled a healing I had several years ago that brought physical freedom and boundless joy.

I’d moved house following a divorce, and one evening as I was coming to the end of taking up some old carpets, I painfully wrenched my finger, which resulted in swelling and a loss of flexibility. That week’s Bible Lesson in the Christian Science Quarterly was on the subject “Man,” and the thought came, “You have been reading about man made in God’s image and likeness all week; now you need to put into practice what you have been reading.” I decided that since nothing could injure God, nothing could injure God’s reflection, me, so I didn’t need to act as if it had! I made a makeshift splint to keep the finger straight, then I cleaned up and went to bed. 

Next morning when I removed the splint, I saw to my dismay that the symptoms hadn’t improved and that my finger was now discolored. A little later my ex-husband came round to do a job at the house. I was just about to take the carpet to the waste collection site, and he pointed out that to get there, I would pass the hospital, and that I should pop in and get the finger X-rayed.