Many years ago, a small area on the sole of my foot bothered me. Discomfort and acute pain would come and go. At one point I removed two splinters with a needle and thought that would end it. When the issue persisted, I thought maybe there was an infection. I had had many healings through Christian Science during my life, and I expected a healing this time, too.

One day while shopping, I found a dress that I liked and would have bought, but there was such discomfort in my foot that I had to go home immediately without making a purchase. Shopping for clothes was something I found difficult, so I was disappointed. A lot of other things in my life felt hard, too. 

Not long after this, a Christian Science lecture was sponsored by a Church of Christ, Scientist, in my city. The lecturer spoke with such authority that on my way home following the lecture, I was tempted to turn the car around and go back to talk with her. However, I had been learning to rely less on people and more directly on God. I reminded myself that it was the spiritual ideas and truths that she had shared with us that gave her lecture authority. I saw that what I really needed to do was to take what I had already received from her talk and apply it in my life.