Last year I was suddenly overcome by a painful, disabling condition in my foot. I did not hesitate a moment in countering, with "No" to this lie about my true being as God's expression. Although the foot did not bend normally, I fulfilled my duties on Sunday as First Reader in my branch church by claiming in God's name my ability to walk.
When I took off my shoes at home after the service, I was almost stunned by pain. I held to my assertion that matter cannot produce pain, since it is not a creator. Still, the condition seemed to get worse. Monday and Tuesday came, and I was off work both days, so no one outside the home knew of the problem.
On Tuesday it occurred to me briefly that I could not possibly stand at the desk Wednesday evening in this condition. But right away I claimed the authority mentioned by Mrs. Eddy in Science and Health (p. 390): "You have no law of His to support the necessity either of sin or sickness, but you have divine authority for denying that necessity and healing the sick." And I asked God to give me the light of understanding. This sentence from Science and Health came to me (p. 269): "Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul." I began to think about the spiritual significance of legs and feet. Viewed materially, they were there to bear the weight of my body. Viewed spiritually, the question arose: Who is bearing what? Immediately Paul's words from Romans dawned on me (11:18): "Thou bearest not the root, but the root thee."
