One evening I was rolling a large trash can that was really too heavy for me out to the street. I didn’t want to ask for help, because I feel women are strong and should be able to do a lot more things independently. However, when the trash can rolled over a big bump where the driveway meets the sidewalk, it started to fall; I couldn’t control it, and it pulled me over with it. I banged the back of my head hard on the asphalt driveway. 

I started screaming “Help!” as loudly as I could but soon realized no one could hear me. I stood up and made my way into the house without falling down again, but my head hurt, and I was scared. I called a Christian Science practitioner and told her how afraid I was about what might happen, reciting every horror story I had ever heard about concussions. 

The practitioner shared a more spiritual perspective of that moment. She said, “The only thing between that driveway and your head was God’s loving arms.” I completely accepted those words as true and calmed down immediately. She shared other spiritual truths, and I let them fill my consciousness.