A LITTLE OVER A YEAR AGO, I began having severe pains in one of my ankles. There didn't seem to be any reason for it—I hadn't fallen or landed hard on this ankle—but at times the pain would come on so strong that I would jump as if someone had stuck me with a needle.
I did my best to walk around as normally as possible, but my daily neighborhood runs, which I loved so much, had to be eliminated. For some reason, at first I didn't pray about the situation with Christian Science as actively as I should have. However, one day while I was standing on a friend's balcony, the ankle pain occurred suddenly, and I inadvertently almost jumped over the railing! While my wife and I later chuckled about the event, I became distinctly aware that I needed to earnestly address this challenge with Christian Science treatment.
My first step was to call a Christian Science practitioner. He responded to my description of the condition with the proper amount of concern, but also with a confident sense that it was just as much a lie as the smallest of ills. I appreciated this bolstering, since I knew that in reality no discord can exist in the perfection that God created. One statement the practitioner made that especially stood out to me was, "God speaks—and must be heard." This helped shift my attention to what God was communicating to me, including His constant love and care, rather than letting the material situation dominate my thoughts. I saw that I couldn't miss the messages revealing the harmony and completeness that constitute God's creation—me. This, in turn, lifted the feeling of personal responsibility I'd begun to accept for bringing about the healing. I realized I could completely trust God's laws to correct the difficulty.
Over the next several weeks, at times feelings of discouragement broke into my thoughts: "Would I ever be active again?" "Would I ever run again?" But these fears were promptly met by challenging them right there in my thought. Whenever they surfaced I declared, sometimes verbally, "My life is in God, therefore I am whole now" or "God enables my every step." As these truths took hold, I found myself feeling more of God's presence, and the fears faded.
At other times, the practitioner's words made a big difference in my outlook. During our near-daily calls, I couldn't help but gain new inspiration from his consistent expectation of healing.
Eventually, all fear subsided permanently, and with that the pain stopped—every bit of it. Not just the sharp pains that made me jump, but also a constant dull pain that I'd just gotten used to.
Today, my ankle feels better than I ever remember, and I haven't had any further trouble with it. I owe so much gratitude for the inspiration I've gained through studying and applying Christian Science.
ALISO VIEJO, CALIFORNIA, US
