Bail out on limitation

Bill Dawley

A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO I was told I had a chronic disease. The symptoms were a mirror image of those my mother had experienced years earlier. She'd spent about five years under the care of an excellent physician, but her illness had been classified as "terminal." Eventually she succumbed to her illness.

When I started experiencing the same symptoms, I became afraid—but also very angry. I just didn't want to be pushed around by a disease.

I struggled for a long time. I lost time at work. I lost hope. Eventually, though, through standing on the Principle that I'd come to understand as God through my study of Christian Science, I was able to surface—little by little.

I remembered going through boot camp in the Marines. The drill instructor at Parris Island had banged it into our heads that "Marines never retreat—they never give up—ever!" That's how they took those islands in the Pacific during World War II.

So I stood on Principle each day. I stood on the strength that God gave me. And I was able to begin functioning in a way that was productive. At one point, I was able to do heavy work as a laborer in a shipyard. I just wasn't going to accept the limits that had been laid down by matter.

Well, I'm still here. And I intend to be here for a long time.

And the reason is that God truly is good. He truly is Love. He's powerful—all-powerful. And because you and I are His image, we have power over any "enemy" that may try to take us down—whether it's illness, poverty, a terrorist attack—whatever.

This issue of the Sentinel is about overcoming limits. It says you can be free of entrapments—and so can I. So let's learn a little more about transcoming limitation. Let's dive in.

Bill Dawley
Senior Managing Editor

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