A few months out of college, I got what I thought was my dream job and moved three thousand miles across the country. This came on the heels of my completing a two-week course on Christianly scientific healing through prayer called Christian Science Primary class instruction. I was thrilled to be able to apply in this new adventure what I had learned about the omnipresence and omnipotence of God, good. 

It didn’t take long for an opportunity for healing to present itself. I was overloaded, working without a day off, often 12 to 16 hours a day. I liked what I was doing, so I struggled to keep up. But then a painful problem developed with one of my legs. My work was very physical, and I couldn’t properly bend my knee. My lower leg had become uncomfortable and swollen. 

Being far from home and exhausted, I found that the persistent pain kept drowning out good thoughts. And the romance of the new adventure had worn thin!

I chose not to get the leg checked out medically because I’d seen the effectiveness of Christian Science treatment throughout my life in healing physical ailments and resolving other kinds of problems. I reviewed the basics of what I had learned in class instruction (see the chapter “Recapitulation” in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy). I also had treatment through prayer from my Christian Science teacher. Still, it seemed like a battle between a mysterious, scary physical problem and the wonderful spiritual truths we were praying with. 

A breakthrough came when my stepmom, who’d been a steady support throughout this experience, shared with me Hebrews 12:12, 13: “Take a fresh grip on life and brace your trembling limbs. Don’t wander away from the path but forge steadily onward. On the right path the limping foot recovers strength and does not collapse” (J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English). 

Though “the limping foot” was pretty relevant, what stood out to me was the need to “take a fresh grip on life.” To me, that meant that I needed to tighten my grasp on what Mrs. Eddy calls the “Science of Life” (see, for instance, Science and Health, p. 9)—the Science of Christian healing I’d learned about over the summer. It was time to actively practice what I knew to be true and not just “wander,” applying truth in a hit-or-miss fashion.

It was tempting to feel discouraged, distracted, and hopeless about my “limping foot,” but I knew that the pain was not from God. Science and Health states: “Since God is All, there is no room for His unlikeness. God, Spirit, alone created all, and called it good. Therefore evil,”—in this case, pain—“being contrary to good, is unreal, and cannot be the product of God” (p. 339).

So I decided that from then on, every time I felt pain or had to twist in an awkward way to get in or out of a car, I would “forge steadily onward.” I would treat the discomfort as a reminder to mentally affirm the truth about the allness and power of God, good, and my true, spiritual identity as God’s offspring. I made time to study the Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly every day so I would have an arsenal of spiritual truths to draw upon.

This went on for several weeks, and I got pretty good at responding with prayer to every twinge of pain. Then I got to the point of praying before I felt discomfort. A month or so after that, while on a road trip with a friend during my Christmas vacation, I hopped out of the car—and realized that my leg was completely healed. I wasn’t even sure when it had happened, because my focus had shifted to acknowledging God’s goodness and power without needing a reminder. I had so enjoyed focusing my thought on the truth about God and His creation, including me, that I sought Him out of love for the truth rather than a need to deal with pain.

This healing was a watershed experience for me. I learned that a problem is really just an opportunity to “take a fresh grip on life”: to grasp the truth about God as Life—as my life. This is not always easy to do, since pain or trouble of any sort can be distracting and feel all-consuming. But when we approach difficulties as opportunities to listen for thoughts from God, Truth, we become more conscious of—and experience—the goodness, perfection, and harmony that God knows and causes. 

I’m exceedingly grateful for Christian Science class instruction; for Christ Jesus, who mapped out the path for us; and for Mary Baker Eddy, who shared her discovery of the Science Jesus taught and lived. No matter what form “the limping foot” might take, we can always recover strength and be healed.

Angela Sage Larsen
Osage Beach, Missouri, US