Recently I was carrying a large container down our back stairs. Our large, energetic dog came bounding down the stairs after me, expecting to play. I was nearing the bottom, when he jumped and hit the back of my legs. I went flying. There was a great deal of pain in one foot, and I needed to calm myself. I repeated over and over the first line of "the scientific statement of being" until I felt calm: "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter" (Science and Health, p. 468). The calm brought the cessation of pain. I reasoned that since there was no intelligence in matter, there could be no intelligent communication from a brain as matter to a foot as matter, telling it to do anything or to feel pain.
I was at the bottom of the stairs for only a short time, affirming all that I knew to be true about my intact relationship with God, when I heard a neighbor and called to ask for help. My foot would not support me, and it appeared seriously injured. I asked my neighbor to bring my telephone, and I called a Christian Science practitioner to pray with me. As I was detailing the events that had landed me at the bottom of the steps, the practitioner abruptly cut off the explanation with the assurance that it never really happened. She was helping me see that my spiritual identity had never been harmed. I immediately felt the powerful truth in these statements, and simply lay down on large piece of cardboard that was on the ground and looked around at all the beauty around me. It was a warm day, the sky was blue, the flowers in the garden were lovely, the dog was keeping a vigilant watch, and I felt much loved.
My spiritual identity had never been harmed.
