During a riding lesson, my horse encountered a muddy patch of ground, stumbled, and fell. He went down so fast that I had no chance to do anything to save myself. I tumbled from his back and hit the ground very hard. With the impact, two things happened simultaneously—there was a sharp pain in my lower back, and a phrase from a hymn, "Everlasting arms of Love/Are beneath, around, above" (Christian Science Hymnal, No. 53), came forcefully to my thought.
The horse scrambled to his feet, but I lay where I fell. Everyone in the class gathered around me and urged me to get up. I would have liked to, but I found I couldn't move. I closed my eyes to shut out all the commotion and concentrated on the "everlasting arms of Love" and what it meant for them to be beneath, around, and above. I reasoned that I could never fall out of these divine arms, and that even if it seemed that I had, they were still around me.
I don't know how long I lay there thinking about this idea, but gradually, I became sure that I could get up and walk. Even though I was in great pain, I did manage to get to my feet and assure everyone that I would be fine. I was also able to make my way to my car, to retrieve my six-month-old son from the babysitter, and to drive home.
