A friend of mine had a broken windowpane, and I offered to help fix it. Since I'd have to remove broken glass from the frame, I felt I should take my heavy-duty work gloves along. But when I arrived at the house, I left them in the car. As I began chipping away the frame glaze to loosen the many jagged pieces of glass still in the frame, I thought of the gloves in the car. But since I was just "initializing" the task, I didn't act on the thought. Then the screwdriver slipped upward, and I slammed my left hand against a jagged piece of glass, which cut a gash across the middle knuckle of my index finger.
As I washed and wrapped my finger, many thoughts flooded my consciousness. I felt disappointed in myself for having ignored the urgings to use the gloves. I realized that these promptings had come from God, the divine Mind, who always guides us toward intelligent behavior. Not using my gloves wasn't exactly intelligent, I realized.
But that was in the past, and now I needed to see that God was Love and that no one can ever be penalized for trying to help another person. In the words of Science and Health: "Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself. If you sprain the muscles or wound the flesh, your remedy is at hand. Mind decides whether or not the flesh shall be discolored, painful, swollen, and inflamed" .p. 385.
