The road to our home crossed two boulevards and four electric-train tracks. At five o'clock in the afternoon the traffic over these roads is very heavy. As I stood waiting on the car-track crossing for my nine-year-old son to run to the post office and rejoin me, he was struck by a darting automobile. With the first flash of his blue blouse and his scream, I called, "God! God!" whether aloud or silently, I know not. The child was down on the road; but by the time the car stopped he ran screaming towards me. I felt no fear. Not seeing his hat, I looked for it in front of the car and found it on the axle. Bystanders told me that the glass in one of the headlights was broken and the lamp twisted by the boy's elbow. The owner of the car drove us home.
The child's right wrist was limp and useless, and he seemed in great pain from the left hip down. He was also in a nervous chill. I put him on the bed, and worked for him in Science as earnestly as I could. In a few minutes the testimony of a mother came to me, reminding me to rejoice. Fear was beginning to appear. So I set about to rejoice. It was a quavering rejoicing at first, and the tears ran down my cheeks. Then I went to the piano and sang a song of praise. When the last words were sung, my fear had melted away. The little boy was quiet, and the intense pain had very much lessened. Feeling, however, that I wanted the help of a Christian Science practitioner, I called one over the telephone. She treated the child at once. One treatment was all he needed. When the father came home at six o'clock he found our little boy ready to joke about the accident.
The child slept well that night, and continued to improve all next day. By evening, he was able to throw a ball with the injured wrist; but the left hip was still sore, and his leg dragged a little. The accident occurred on a Tuesday. On Thursday morning it came to me to work again mentally for him. After repeating the Lord's Prayer with its spiritual interpretation, as given on pages 16 and 17 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, my mental vision became clear, and I beheld the boy as perfect in God. "He is healed; he is healed," I said. Such happiness as I had never known came to my heart. When the child came in, later, the soreness was gone from his hip, the left leg was restored to a normal condition,—he was healed indeed. He leaped across the floor for joy. That afternoon, he learned to ride a bicycle.
