Freedom from knee injury

I am a college volleyball coach, and several years ago I hurt my knee on the very first day of my pre-season camp. The pain was overwhelming at first, but after about ten minutes of affirming my oneness with God, I felt enveloped by a surge of divine Love that buoyed me with a wonderful sense of peace. 

The “Love surge” is a phrase I use to describe an important concept that has been the foundation of many profound healings in our family. To me it’s a moment of Truth—not reading or hearing or thinking about Truth—actually a moment of being bathed in Truth. A moment where we feel what God is—is All there is! A few years before, I would probably have prayed about “my knee,” but at this point I just prayed for that feeling of divine Love—a moment where the simplicity of the healing Christ completely overwhelms the seeming complexity of the human situation. 

Mary Baker Eddy writes about this on page 14 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual,—neither in nor of matter,—and the body will then utter no complaints. If suffering from a belief in sickness, you will find yourself suddenly well.” 

An idea from First Corinthians that helped me with this healing was, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (15:52). To me, this describes a surge of divine Love, a time when fear, sickness, and all the etceteras that belong to the laws of science have nowhere to fit in, and are replaced with divine Science and Truth. 

After getting crutches so I could move around, I went back to the office and the team had covered my office with helpful metaphysical quotes. One in particular hit home and has stayed near to my heart ever since. In Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy writes, “Who dares to doubt this consummate test of the power and willingness of divine Mind to hold man forever intact in his perfect state, and to govern man’s entire action?” (pp. 493–494). Every time I’d feel pain or discouragement, this question gave me the opportunity to reaffirm that Love heals and answer, “Not me—I will not doubt!” 

Over the coming days it felt like I had to answer that question a thousand times, but those ideas from Science and Health and First Corinthians both told me that embracing moments is a key component of feeling God’s love, so I could rejoice in those moments instead of being frustrated about how many of them I had each day.

I also liked something Mrs. Eddy discusses in her article “The New Birth”: “The new birth is not the work of a moment. It begins with moments, and goes on with years; moments of surrender to God, of childlike trust and joyful adoption of good; moments of self-abnegation,
 self-consecration, heaven-born hope, and spiritual love” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 15). 

Through the next week, I became more constant in my metaphysical work and prayer. I was focused less and less on my knee and movement. I was focused on those “Love surge” moments. This gave me a pathway free of judging my healing progress, and full of letting divine Love define me and rejoice over me. However, I was still using crutches, and sleeping was not easy. Moving my leg under the covers was excruciating. When my alarm went off in the mornings, I needed to take several minutes to pray before attempting to move. 

It had been a little over two weeks since I hurt my knee. One night I went to bed as usual, but when my alarm went off the next morning I just got up and went into the living room to read the Christian Science Bible Lesson as I always did. I made my daughters’ breakfasts and was getting ready to take them to the bus when I realized I was healed! I hadn’t even thought about my crutches, and I had been moving freely all morning. As I walked to the bus stop, overflowing with gratitude, I waved goodbye to my girls. That day, I was able to run three miles—completely free. I’ve had no more problems with my knee. This healing showed me the instant nature of Love!

Mary Ann Sprague
Elsah, Illinois, US