When I was a teenager, I injured my ankle playing basketball. The medical prediction from X-rays was that, due to the severity of the injury, my ankle would never fully recover its original strength and capacity for movement. And for several years, this seemed to be the case. I spent many weeks on crutches and had to constantly support my foot by wrapping it tightly whenever I did participate in sports. Reinjuries were not uncommon and were very discouraging.
Shortly after one of these reinjuries, however, I became acquainted with Christian Science through a friend. He invited me to the Christian Science Sunday School he attended. During our class discussion there, I was struck by the idea of God being wholly good. This definition of God hit home for me. I had always hoped to find some validation of good as the natural order of life. It seemed to me that the real essence of being should be harmony, not conflict. And this included the physical side of life as well as the mental. It felt natural to accept this idea—that all of God's creation, including each one of His children, had been designed to be good, to feel good, to have good.
This was a transforming idea, and I felt I could demonstrate it in my own life. I saw that I no longer had to accept a physical restriction as a permanent part of me. I could stand on the spiritual facts of being, literally and figuratively, and feel empowered. Because divine good is supreme, I could expect to see that borne out in my life, instead of acquiescing to a mortal, limited view of myself.
I often thought about this citation in Science and Health: "Life is, always has been, and ever will be independent of matter; for Life is God, and man is the idea of God, not formed materially but spiritually, and not subject to decay and dust" (p. 200). This sentence gave me a clearer concept of my God-given independence from matter. I saw that God, not matter, governs me and each of His children. And if matter has nothing to do with God, or Life, then matter cannot dictate to me who I am or what I am capable of doing. As I applied this specifically to my situation, I realized that I didn't have to put up with an injured ankle, regardless of how solid the evidence of injury appeared to be. Instead, I saw that God made me like Him, in His image—and that image is healthy, active, and productive.
As I accepted this new perspective, it became natural not to feel afraid of the medical diagnosis I'd received. And as I held consistently to the idea that I am spiritual, not material, this reality became more tangible to me than any evidence of a troublesome ankle. My ankle gradually returned to normal. I went on to have a successful collegiate career in athletics, playing on the varsity basketball team, and winning state titles in tennis. And I can freely participate in sports to this day.
WOODLAND HILLS, CALIFORNIA, US
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