One evening over a year ago, I was walking with a friend in my neighborhood. It was getting dark, and sticks and other debris on the sidewalk had not been fully cleared after a recent storm. Not paying attention, I tripped over a tree branch, fell, and was badly hurt. 

As a student of Christian Science, I’ve had many healings that have proved the effectiveness of prayer in times of trouble. I’ve learned that a good way to respond to an accident or any need is to turn immediately to God and acknowledge that He made me and maintains me. 

As my friend helped me up, one of the first thoughts that came to me was that I was “unfallen, upright, pure, and free,” a phrase from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. The full statement reads, “Through discernment of the spiritual opposite of materiality, even the way through Christ, Truth, man will reopen with the key of divine Science the gates of Paradise which human beliefs have closed, and will find himself unfallen, upright, pure, and free, not needing to consult almanacs for the probabilities either of his life or of the weather, not needing to study brainology to learn how much of a man he is” (p. 171).

As I turned to God for healing, I also remembered that the Bible says, describing God’s protection of His children, “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken” (Psalms 34:20). I had recently come across this verse and been struck by its authority. A friend and I talked about this idea at the time and realized that God’s authority meant that we couldn’t be subject to sprains, bruises, stiffness, dislocation, wounds, impeded circulation, etc. Since God and His creation are entirely spiritual and good, it’s not possible for any of His children to fall out of His perfect care or be harmed in any way. Thinking about this as not only a divine promise but unbreakable divine law helped me trust that Spirit, God, is the substance and structure of my being, and matter is not. 

Although a little stunned by the fall, I affirmed another spiritual truth: “Accidents are unknown to God . . .” (Science and Health, p. 424). This meant to me that accidents must also be unknown to me as God’s child. He never made them, and I reflect what God knows. Whenever something bad happens, right then and there God’s unerring direction is actually in operation, keeping me safe.

I was able to walk home unaided, and the next day I walked my usual distance of four to five miles. A few days later, however, I had a painful night. I realized that I was expecting time to be a factor in experiencing full healing. Again I denied in prayer the belief that the incident had ever happened. The pain disappeared by morning, and I have had no further issues related to this event.

I’m so grateful for this quick healing and for the tools we have in Christian Science for learning about God and His love for us.

Valerie Minard
Ballwin, Missouri, US