At home one evening, I took a sharp turn into our laundry room and tripped over a cat litter box that wasn’t in its usual place. I fell forward, and my head smashed into the sharp edge of the sink. 

There was a great deal of blood from the wound, and my husband rushed over to help me. He was understandably worried and said that the gash on my forehead would certainly need stitches and that he should take me to the emergency room. I told him I understood his concern, but assured him that God was caring for me and that I would pray. Having seen the effectiveness of prayer on other occasions, he supported my desire to pray and rely only on God for healing.

What immediately came to thought was a Bible passage that I have been aware of since I was young: “When I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you, . . . ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you, . . . ‘Live!’ ” (Ezekiel 16:6, New King James Version). I was familiar with this passage because when my mom was hemorrhaging heavily during her pregnancy with my younger brother, she had prayed with it. My family had been new to Christian Science at the time, and my mom’s doctor’s office was a long drive from our tiny town. I remember that by the time my dad got her to the doctor’s office, she was completely healed, and there were no problems when my baby brother was born.