When I left home for college, I was told by my high school coach and a medical doctor that I should not attempt to play college football. They had seen me struggle through a season with a severe back problem and had recommended I give the muscles in my lower back plenty of time to mend.
At that time I was gaining confidence in God's power, as explained in Christian Science, and so I decided to play, knowing God was my true source of strength and protection. On the fourth day of preseason practice, the pain in my back returned, forcing me to leave the field. I had no interest in receiving medical treatment. I knew the solution was spiritual, so I returned to my room and read the weekly Bible Lesson in the Christian Science Quarterly.
As I read, I thought about my real nature as a perfect, spiritual, and complete expression of divine Mind. I listed on a piece of paper the qualities derived from God that I could express—qualities such as strength, mobility, flexibility. As my thought was directed in this way, the pain began to subside.
