In the summer of 1994 I had a serious fall from my bicycle that rendered me briefly unconscious. I was wearing a bicycle helmet, and I came to with my husband watching over me. Just then a young man came biking by and stopped when he saw us. He had a cellular phone and offered to call for medical help. We declined graciously, but the two men were able to lift me to my feet. It was painful to bear weight on one of my legs, and I could not lift the leg to walk. By leaning on the bicycle I was able to get to a safe place where I could wait for my husband to get the car and take me home.
From the moment I came to, I was clearheaded, unafraid, and able to think and pray for myself. While I waited for my husband, I pondered a passage I know by heart from Science and Health: "Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God's unerring direction and thus bring out harmony" (p. 424).
The first night was difficult. When I wanted to move from my bed to a chair after my family had retired, I was pinned flat on my back by immobility and pain. I felt alone, but I knew that I wanted to be healed through understanding God better, not just to be cared for by a person. I pondered another familiar statement from Science and Health: "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need" (p. 494). I knew that, more than having the aid of a person, I needed to feel God's presence and love for me expressed through the right idea of mobility.
