Several years ago, while engaging in a friendly game of touch...

Pearce Allen Dressel

Several years ago, while engaging in a friendly game of touch football, I severely injured the Achilles' tendon in my right leg. My wife and I were part of a group picnicking at a state park. Following the injury I hobbled to a park bench, where I spent the rest of the afternoon.

I recalled Mrs. Eddy's statement in Science and Health (p. 424): "Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God's unerring direction and thus bring out harmony." I silently insisted that this was true—"accidents are unknown to God." And I reasoned that because God made man in His image and likeness nothing could injure His likeness.

As the afternoon wore on, the pain subsided greatly, but many remarks were made by our friends regarding leg injuries and the difficulty in healing them, the need for surgery, and lengthy convalescent periods. All these I silently refuted, but the false suggestions kept coming.

During the following days many more material arguments presented themselves. There were periods of returning pain and with it the temptation to have surgery. Each time these arguments came, however, I reached out for spiritual truths to destroy them. The mental battle waged hotly for several days, and then came a feeling of peace, dominion, and well-being. The pain largely subsided, and I felt the confidence inspired by Mrs. Eddy's beloved poem "The Mother's Evening Prayer" (Poems, p. 4) which begins:

O gentle presence, peace and joy and power;
O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour.

But my healing was still not complete. I tired easily and favored the leg, limping slightly. There were times when I found myself wondering why I was so slow in gaining my freedom.

It finally became evident to me that I was believing that my well-being was dependent upon matter, that secretly I feared I might never fully recover. Thus, despite my denials, I was therefore going along with the general belief of injury, of convalescence, of uncertainty of full recovery, and of fear of the consequences.

At this point I mentally retraced my footsteps. I went back to the original fact that "accidents are unknown to God," or to His likeness. It became clear to me that I had nothing to fear, because I reflected God's being. Nothing had happened or could happen to Him, and nothing had happened to me, in my true being.

With that conviction of spiritual reality, the limp was gone, and I have since been free to be joyously active, to run, hike, play tennis, or engage in whatever natural activity presents itself.

I am very grateful for this healing, for the privilege of membership in The Mother Church, for class instruction, and for the opportunity of serving as First Reader in a branch church. I am especially grateful for Mrs. Eddy's discovery of Christian Science and for its teachings, which help us put into practice the truths taught and demonstrated by our Way-shower, Christ Jesus.

Pearce Allen Dressel
Tacoma, Washington

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