One day last year, I was at the top of a six-step ladder trying to remove a big suitcase from the upper part of the wardrobe, when I lost my balance and crashed down on the floor with the suitcase on top of me. The suitcase had a smaller one inside and was relatively heavy. I felt a sharp pain on the right side of my body and could not move.

We learn in Christian Science that the law of God, Spirit, is the only law that rules the universe and that we are all the spiritual children of God. Therefore, right there, still lying motionless on the floor, I affirmed strongly that I had always been governed and sustained by the law of God, by the law of Life, Truth, and Love, and never by a material law that could harm me by causing me to fall.

As I prayed, I realized that moments before climbing the ladder, I had been deeply upset at the person to whom I would lend the suitcase. I realized that this was why I had so irritably climbed the ladder and yanked the suitcase in such a way that I lost my balance and fell. Whenever we nurture anger and irritation, we stop recognizing our oneness with the law of divine Love, and that Love rules everything with patience, mercy, and compassion. I then prayerfully recognized that I lean only on this law of Love, and that this law alone sustains me. This spiritual law is supreme; therefore, no so-called material law or even irritated thinking really has any power to cause harm.

After I prayed for a few minutes, the anger and irritation vanished, and I started to feel joy. I was filled with a huge sense of gratitude. I felt grateful for having a suitcase and for being able to help someone by lending it. The pain disappeared, and I was able to get up.

However, a short while later, I noticed that my right ankle was swollen and turning black and blue. I thought that I may have sprained it during the fall. Again, I turned to God prayerfully and remembered this passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: “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” (p. 424). In Christian Science we learn that everyone is God’s reflection, created in God’s image and likeness (see Science and Health, p. 475). Because we are one with God, we know only what He knows. If God is not aware of accidents, how could I be? If God is perfect and is the only cause, how could there be an effect resulting from an accident, such as an injured ankle?

I continued to cherish these thoughts and tried not to look at the ankle constantly to check how it was. When my maid and my pedicurist noticed the condition and were concerned, I prayerfully acknowledged that only my true being, perfect and intact, could be seen by them, by me, and by anybody else. They recommended that I apply ice to the injury and stay off my feet, but I relied only on prayer for healing, and tried to do my daily activities normally.

In just a couple of days my ankle was no longer swollen or discolored. I was completely healed. However, to me what was most important in this case was realizing the importance of keeping my thought always calm and in accord with God, and not to be carried away by irritation. In fact, I realized that if God, divine Love, is always in a state of harmony, by reflection I could never manifest a state of irritation.

In the Bible there are several references to the arms of God, such as this one: “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). It is so good to know that we are always protected and sustained by the tender and powerful arms of God!

Stella Mesquita
 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil