WHILE TAKING A WALK some time ago, I ventured into a neighborhood that was new to me. A number of large houses sat well back from the street, one of which had been vacant for a long time. There was a For Sale sign on it, so I decided to investigate the grounds. In the midst of an overgrown garden was a beautiful fountain. Shrubs and bushes covered it, and moss and dead leaves choked the flow of water from it. Yet a trace of water was dripping from a stone cherub.

Since I had nothing in particular that I needed to do, I set about cleaning the fountain. As I worked, the hope that birds might soon be able to bathe in the fountain and drink from the bubbling cherub hastened my efforts. And eventually I'd cleared away enough muck and debris so that a modest stream began to fill the basin. To my surprise, when I looked up from my work, nearly three hours had passed. I washed my hands in the now clear water and left. The benefit the birds would receive from my efforts and any inspiration those seeing the restored fountain might gain were more than enough reward for me to have cleaned it.

As I walked back to my neighborhood, though, I found another reward in thinking about how much life is like that fountain.

We all have the potential to refresh and be a refuge to others, just as this fountain would now be for the birds. But troubles try to clog up our lives by miring us in worries and fears. That little fountain needed only to have the silt and moss cleared away in order for the water—which was there, ready—to flow freely. Similarly, the inspiration we all need every day, and that comes from God, divine Truth and Love, is always available to guide and save us. But we may need to clear away the debris cluttering our thinking in order to see the truth and love of God at work in our lives.

To me, the teachings of Jesus are like the water in the fountain, ever ready to nourish and sustain us. He taught that God is our Father and that we are His children. Many of Jesus' parables and teachings show God to be a loving Father—pure, divine Love itself, as a matter of fact. Understanding the nature of God and of one's relation to Him is the starting point for clearing one's thinking of whatever would keep out the light of divine Truth and Love. It's the basis, in other words, for cleaning out thoughts that are not from God and would try to convince us that we can be sick or injured or in any way separated from our Father-Mother God.

There was a time when I had to clear ungodlike thoughts out of my consciousness in order to be healed. I was driving my motorcycle too fast down a dark, crooked country road, when I lost control of my bike and crashed. Upon regaining consciousness, I realized that I had sustained some serious injuries. But I also realized that my relation to God hadn't changed a bit. I was just as much His child as I had ever been or would ever be. I could no more be without His love and protection than the ocean could be without water.

My physical condition, however, was far from perfect. Breathing was difficult, my right arm wouldn't work, and I was bleeding from a head wound. I noticed a porch light farther down the road, so I got up and headed that way. The woman who answered the door took one look at me and called to her husband to telephone for emergency assistance. I assured her that I would be all right, and asked her to call my wife instead. She did, and soon my wife came to get me.

Up to that point, aside from having difficulty breathing, I had felt no pain. From the moment I had regained consciousness, I had been continuously affirming that in truth I was the perfect child of God. I also refused to accept that the statement being made about my appearance were an accurate assessment of my actual nature as God's child.

Once I got home and was cleaning myself up, I discovered that my collarbone was broken. At that point fear started to clog up my thinking, as you can imagine. Even so, I refused to believe that I could be outside of God's kingdom, and I kept affirming that He-She was taking care of me. Frightening pictures of injury could not block my understanding of who I really was as God's offspring. I got into bed and quickly went to sleep. I remember thinking, as I dozed off, "I know that the freedom from pain I have enjoyed thus far doesn't depend upon my being either asleep or awake. So I don't have to fear that I will begin to experience pain now." I felt assured that God was taking care of me. I needed only to accept and understand this fact and not let any notions to the contrary influence me.

In the night I woke at one point, and although there was no pain, the shoulder that had been injured felt really hot. I remembered this description of fear from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy: "Heat; inflammation; anxiety; ignorance; error; desire; caution" (p. 586). All of these words described the thoughts that were again trying to clog my thinking. Recognizing this, I made every effort to remain clear about my true, spiritual selfhood, which is derived from God, the sole creator. As God's creation, I couldn't possess a single one of these negative characteristics. Soon I went back to sleep, and the next morning my shoulder was completely normal. I had been afraid to move that arm the night before, but now I could move it as freely as the other.

I was still having trouble taking deep breaths, though, and that night I was to appear in a musical. So I reasoned that the same divine power that had healed the collarbone would sustain me during the evening's performance. Up until the moment I stepped out on the stage, I could not breathe freely. But when my cue came, I spoke in a perfectly normal voice with no shortness of breath. And later, when I had to sing, I could do so plenty loudly. From that moment on, my breathing was completely normal.

I later had a physician examine my shoulder. He said that I had indeed broken my collarbone, but that, as far as he could tell, it was perfectly healed. Since then, I have played tennis, gone swimming, and performed any physical activity I needed to, without even thinking about the accident.

This healing and that fountain I cleaned stand as reminders to me of the importance of keeping one's thinking free from the "debris" of fear and worry, or from any ungod-like thoughts. By doing my part in keeping my consciousness clear and pure, I helped myself find healing and am better able to benefit others.