IT WAS THE MORNING BEFORE an important meeting, which I'd traveled a long way to attend. As I stepped out of the tub in the hotel bathroom, my foot slipped and I fell against the toilet and onto the floor. I felt some pain in the hip I'd landed on, and even more in my ribs, which had made a cracking sound when they hit the toilet. Even worse, though, was the fact that I was stuck—wedged between the toilet and the bathtub.
I reached out to God in prayer and realized that, first off, I needed to overcome the fear I was feeling. I was worried about how I was going to get out of this predicament. About the possibility that some of my ribs might be broken. And about how I was going to be able to sit through an all-day meeting in this condition.
The first idea that came to me was: I am not material. Because God is Spirit, and I am His image and likeness, I am wholly spiritual and, therefore, not subject to material circumstances or conditions. Secondly, because I am spiritual, I'm not trapped — either in an awkward position or in a broken body. I'm free, right now, to experience God's power and protection. I thought of this statement from Science and Health: "Man is the expression of God's being" (p. 470). I knew that Mary Baker Eddy defined God's being as "infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss" (Science and Health, p. 481). So, as the expression of that being, I have access to these qualities at every moment, no matter where I am. These ideas helped calm my fear.
