I WAS ADJUSTING THE FOOT PADS on a washing machine to make it level, when one of my fingers got caught under the five-foot-long, 15-pound crowbar I was using. As I leaned forward to get my finger out, I lost my balance and fell forward on the bar, crushing my finger in the process. The pain was excruciating, and I felt a momentary surge of fear that I had severely damaged the finger.
But the fear served to galvanize my thinking. From my study of Christian Science, I knew that accidents are not a part of God's creation, because God is always good and doesn't leave His creation to chance. I also reasoned that if God is Spirit, as the Bible says, then since I exist in God, I exist in Spirit, not in matter. So what appeared to be a threat to a portion of my material body was nothing more than a lie. It had no reality, no power, no truth. I could not be the victim of accident or injury, and this spiritual truth would adjust my human condition and nullify the apparent physical effects of the accident. It reminded me of a statement by Mary Baker Eddy: "No evidence before the material senses can close my eyes to the scientific proof that God, good, is supreme" (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 277).
As these thoughts flooded my consciousness, I was relieved of the initial fear. I felt separate from the incident, and I had a feeling of dominion—a confidence that nothing bad could happen to me, now or ever.
