One summer morning, I woke up with a twinge of discomfort in my shoulder. It got worse throughout the day, becoming very painful and making many normal activities difficult. 

I turned to the book of Psalms, which I’d been studying at that time, and found this: “He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight” (101:7). I understood from my spiritual study that my house was my consciousness; and those who would work deceit or tell lies were the five physical senses. This showed me that there was no need to dwell on symptoms and wonder what was causing them or how long they would last. I could instead quickly dismiss them as lies that did not belong in my thought or my experience.

As I continued studying the psalms, they guided me in my next steps. I read that I was to thank and praise God and “let the Lord be magnified” (Psalms 35:27). I took these instructions to mean that I was to completely fill my thought with praise for God, good—affirming God’s presence, power, and harmony and my right to freedom, flexibility, and strength as God’s image and likeness.