Years ago, when hiking in Yosemite National Park, I took a fall and injured my ankle. I thought it might be broken, but I was able to limp out of the park. Once I got home, the pain became intense, and I thought it would be wise to get the ankle X-rayed. The doctor said that it was not broken, but that I had severe ligament tears and would be unable to walk on it for 12 weeks. He said there was really nothing he could do and, surprisingly, told me all I could do was pray about it!

The next day I had to go to my Air Force Reserve weekend, where I was in an administrative position at the base hospital. I was friends with the doctors in the unit, and they knew I was a Christian Scientist and relied on prayer for healing. I came in on crutches, and they had some fun teasing me about how I was going to heal this problem spiritually. I wasn’t offended, since we were friendly, and they took turns examining me, coming to the same conclusion as the original doctor had the day before—torn ligaments that would take a few months to heal. 

That night the pain grew worse. Although still chuckling about the doctor who’d told me to pray, I took his comment seriously. And pray I did . . . in earnest. It was revealed to me that I needed to heal a torn relationship with a family member. I gave no more thought to my ankle but addressed this family issue in prayer. I fell asleep with nothing but love for this family member as I held to the true, unbroken relationship I had with her: We are both children of the same loving God. During my next conversation with her, it was as though there had never been an issue. Our original loving relationship was completely restored.