In April 2011 I began experiencing terrible pain whenever I moved. Soon I wasn’t able to stand up from a squatting position without help, and it was difficult for me to sit for extended periods too. I was free of discomfort only when remaining motionless. (Later I would be told that the connective tissues of my tendons were damaged.) I could no longer go to work, and because of the difficulties, my son urged me to see a doctor.

This was the beginning of an unsuccessful odyssey through various medical and alternative health-care options, only one of which gave me temporary relief. But I was looking for permanent healing and didn’t want any medical labels stamped on me. I wasn’t yet a Christian Scientist, but I already innately resisted the legitimacy of disease, avoided talking about the problem with others, and clung to the thought that Jesus healed people without using medicine.

I did not yet realize that it was the Christ, the true idea of God, speaking to me, but this was the beginning of a wonderful journey. I often prayed with the twenty-third Psalm from the Bible, and it wasn’t just words to me. I felt that divine Love was by my side as I walked “through the valley” (verse 4).