Several years ago while trying to remove an avocado pit, I stabbed my left hand to the bone just below my forefinger. I wrapped the wound and acknowledged that as God’s idea I was not guilty of a stupid mistake. Man, the spiritual identity of each one of us, is always innocent. I finished preparing dinner, and the cut eventually stopped bleeding and hurting. I put a bandage on it, and it was much improved the following day. This happened on a Sunday night. By the following Wednesday, you couldn’t see any evidence that there had been a cut. 

But a few days later, I saw a famous actress on TV. She had a large bandage on her hand and said it had been an avocado-slicing accident. She explained how it had happened, and it was exactly as my experience had been. Unwittingly, I identified with her, and the following day I felt a pop in the hand that had been affected. Nothing was changed on the surface, but under the skin something felt very painful. I started praying about it and continued to do so for several days. I wasn’t able to use the hand and became very fearful.

I decided I needed a total do-over. So I went back to the basics. I acknowledged that I am the reflection of God, who is the All-in-all. Once again I acknowledged that I was innocent of making a mistake, and this time I addressed this point more specifically. I knew that in truth, because I am a child of God, Spirit, and thus spiritual, I was innocent of having done something stupid and of causing an accident. Then I affirmed that I was also innocent of believing that another could have done something that caused her to be harmed and that this is a common type of injury. I was also innocent of the belief that life is in and of matter. Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “Entirely separate from the belief and dream of material living, is the Life divine, revealing spiritual understanding and the consciousness of man’s dominion over the whole earth” (p. 14).