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Feeling God's presence brings relief from pain

From the May 2003 issue of The Christian Science Journal


I was in a rush to get to work. Walking rapidly over some uneven ground, I suddenly twisted my ankle. I didn't stop, but I did think, emphatically: "I am spiritual, not material, and this body and its actions can't tell me what I am or how I feel." I knew that my true nature, as a spiritual idea, could not be touched by accident since I was created and maintained by God, Spirit itself. During the day, whenever the ankle hurt, I held to this fact: my real identity is wholly spiritual, not a combination of material parts.

That night at home, though, as I peeled off my sock, the pain's intensity surprised me. After praying for a while, I decided to contact a practitioner to pray with me. I wanted to continue relying on God alone for healing but was having trouble praying on my own.

For several hours it seemed as if I called him every few minutes. No position was comfortable, and the pain was intense. The practitioner was clear and kind, strong in his reminder of God's immediacy. I don't remember what he said to me exactly, but what became very clear was that God's love was there for me at that moment. I didn't need to worry about what would happen because God, who is Love itself, was the only presence that I could feel. And Love's presence was a reality that had never changed.

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