Freed from pain and immobility

Years ago, I was working for a company as a salesperson and was the only female on the sales team. I had a visit from two members of upper management from the East Coast. All went well, but on the return trip to the airport, I reached into the trunk of the car to grab my boss’s heavy suitcase and pulled it out. I think I was trying to be “one of the guys.” I got the men and their cases on the plane and went home to bed. But the next morning when I awoke, I could not move. If I tried, I felt extreme pain. I couldn’t even get to the phone to call a Christian Science practitioner for help. I was alone and scared.

I closed my eyes and went right to God in prayer—humbly, completely. A divine response came in these words from a hymn: “The thought of Thee is mightier far / Than sin and pain and sorrow are” (Samuel Longfellow, Christian Science Hymnal, No.134).

I knew my answer was in this message, which filled my thought like light pouring in through a window. I thought about these words over and over. Then I began to dissect the statement. The thought of Thee—of God, good, All—is mightier, more powerful, by far than sin (anything wrong or foolish) . . . My thought stuck there. Sin? Was I dealing with some form of sin? Why yes, I recognized that I resented being on my own, with no husband to support me and no children left at home to surround me. And why did I have to work so hard and get less respect than the men on the sales team?