A Pony Tale

Deli Hoffman

Laurie loved horses. But it was only on summer vacations at the ranch that she could ride real horses. So at home in the neighborhood she and her friends played "horses" with stick-ponies. Laurie would straddle the stick, grab the reins, and gaily gallop off, her hair waving.

The stick-ponies all had names, and were usually tied up or stuck into a hedge. Buck, Glee, Poddy (short for Podiak), and Simple Lee.

One day when Laurie and her friends were playing "Ranch" and she went to get a pony from the hedge, she disturbed a big wasp in his nest. "Ouch!" she screamed. Her friends and the next door neighbor, who was caring for them, came running to see what had happened. Just then Mom came home from marketing. She quieted everyone, assured them Laurie was all right, and whisked her into the house.

The pain seemed terrible, but Mom and Laurie talked about how pain doesn't really have power to do anything or be anything. Because God never made pain. Fear of the wasp and his sting needed to be healed first. Mom suggested that Laurie put her hand behind her so there wouldn't be anything to look at. Together they turned thought away from the pain and swelling and toward God, good.

Because they were students of Christian Science and Laurie attended a Christian Science Sunday School, they knew how to pray to God as an ever-present help, the way Christ Jesus did. Mom opened the textbook of Christian Science to the place where Mrs. Eddy mentions Paul who, according to the Bible, proved a viper (a kind of snake) couldn't harm him. The Bible says he shook off the viper "and felt no harm."^{Acts 28:5;} Mrs. Eddy says, "All of God's creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible."^{Science and Health, p. 514.} Then Laurie saw that fear can't hide the understanding that God loves and governs all of His creatures, man and insect included.

That did it! Fear disappeared as Laurie straightened out her thinking. Why, she could love the wasp the way she did her horses. Each is an idea of God. She moved her hand from behind her back, and it was perfectly normal. All pain and swelling were gone. This was another proof of Love's presence—a Christian Science healing. Laurie and Mom were happy, and they thanked God for His goodness.

Then off Laurie trotted, to the rhythm of her pony song:

See the galloping ponies
Buck and Glee.
See Poddy-Podiak
And Simple Lee.

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