One day, when our son was about three years old, I put him to bed for a nap and then went to my room to take a nap myself. Suddenly, I was awakened by the sound of his screams coming from outside the house. I ran downstairs to meet him and scooped him up in my arms. He had fallen out the window of his second-story room. He had scrape marks and splinters on his legs. He also had a huge bump on the side of his head.
As soon as I had heard him crying, I had immediately turned to God for help in quieting my fears, and to know that God would guide me in practical ways to meet this child's needs at this moment. I was very strong in my affirmations of God's consistent and constant care of His own ideas and in knowing that my son could never fall out of His care. A Bible verse from Psalms came to my thought: "The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down" (145:14). I felt this was a promise for both of us. My son stopped crying very quickly, which indicated to me that he wasn't in any more pain. I gently washed him as well as I could, but made no initial attempt to get out the multitude of splinters. A sentence from Science and Health come to thought: "A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive" (p. 463). From many previous experiences, I knew that holding my thought steadfasly to these healing ideas would bring effective results. I put my son back to bed to finish his nap and sat on his bed while he slept. I prayed during the two hours that he slept, continuing to affirm his spiritual identity. When he wakened, he was not his usual active self. However, there was no complaint of pain or of any discomfort. I kept a watchful eye on him, keeping him at my side at all times.
When his condition was unchanged the following morning, I called a friend who is a Christian Scientist. We had scheduled a play date for our two boys, so I told her what had happened and said that I wished to cancel. She suggested that in my prayers I address the possibility of a concussion. I spent time that morning studying and praying again. These statements of Mrs. Eddy's were particularly helpful in uplifting my thought: "Insist vehemently on the great fact which covers the whole ground, that God, Spirit, is all, and that there is none beside Him. There is no disease. When the supposed suffering is gone from mortal mind, there can be no pain; and when the fear is destroyed, the inflammation will subside" (Science and Health, p. 421). "Existence, separate from divinity, Science explains as impossible" (ibid., p. 522). "What is it that harms you? Can height, or depth, or any other creature separate you from the Love that is omnipresent good,—that blesses infinitely one and all?" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 8)
