Last summer my son and I went on a three-peak day hike on some of New Hampshire’s most rugged mountains. On our way up the third peak, I realized that my movement was becoming more labored with every step. Progress was slow, and as my son kept checking on me, I found myself looking to the body for answers. But the reports from my legs, lungs, etc., were not cheerful or optimistic. Then these words from the Christian Science Hymnal came to me:

Place on the Lord reliance;
       My heart, with courage wait; 
His truth be thine affiance, 
       When faint and desolate: 
His might thy heart shall strengthen, 
       His love thy joy increase; 
Thy day shall mercy lengthen: 
       The Lord will give thee peace. 
(James Montgomery, Hymn No. 77)