One Sunday morning as my husband and I were about to leave for church, we suddenly recalled that a very heavy downpour was to occur before our return home. We took a few extra moments to be sure all windows were closed. Finding a large casement window open, I proceeded to reach across a piece of furniture to secure its lock. Suddenly, I found myself on the floor. I somehow had lost my balance and fallen, striking one side of my face on a narrow, hard arm of the chaise longue.
Because of painful swelling, it seemed wise for my husband to proceed to church alone. I needed to pray to know that injury had no power to intrude itself into my experience. Gratefully, I reached for my Bible and our beloved Leader's writings.
The first answer came from Mary Baker Eddy's book, No and Yes. It assured me at once, "In Science there is no fallen state of being; for therein is no inverted image of God, no escape from the focal radiation of the infinite" (p. 17). How I loved the immediacy of this answer! More strengthening reassurances came into view, including the following statement, found in Miscellaneous Writings, also by Mrs. Eddy: "Whatever obstructs the way,—causing to stumble, fall, or faint, those mortals who are striving to enter the path,—divine Love will remove; and uplift the fallen and strengthen the weak" (p. 328). The appropriateness of these words filled me with tears of gratitude, and my heart overflowed with what Mrs. Eddy's discovery had provided for me at this moment. No wonder Christian Science is known as the Comforter!
