Freed of back pain

After King Charles III’s coronation in Great Britain in May 2023, our neighborhood had a street party. For me, the event involved carrying chairs, food, and a very heavy table for a considerable distance. Afterward, my back felt as though I had overdone it, and I was in some discomfort. I didn’t think too much about it, however, and felt sure it would soon pass.

Four days later, the discomfort not only had not passed but had worsened, and I awoke in great pain. I was in agony on my back but unable to turn onto my side. I somehow managed to get out of bed and, hanging on to anything I could find to help me with each step, make my way to the bedroom chair.

I was meant to be meeting my cousin later that morning to see the bluebells, which were in full bloom, but it was too early to ring her to cancel. Sitting in the chair, I picked up my Full-Text Edition of the Christian Science Quarterly to read that week’s Bible Lesson. My eyes fell on this sentence from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: “Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts” (p. 261). Well, I thought, this pain certainly isn’t good, nor is it true, because God made only good, and He made all.