So from time to time we present excerpts from articles that are especially relevant and insightful. Look for more "Your Insights" in coming months!
Two years ago I had a condition in one of my legs serious enough to land me in a wheelchair, leaving me unable to walk or do much of anything on my own. I was convinced this had come about as a result of mental malpractice, aimed at me and my husband on the part of a relative. I asked a Christian Science practitioner to support my prayers for healing, and I'm sure it was her prayer that uncovered the real issue that lay behind the illness. I also checked into a Christian Science nursing facility, where I received Christian Science nursing care.
At the facility I spent my time praying deeply about this situation, which I feel brought me to the point where I was ready to listen to God's guidance. About an hour before I was to return home on the third day, I sat in my lounge chair praying the Lord's Prayer, when I stopped at the line, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Matt. 6:12). I asked God, "Of what do I need to be forgiven?" The answer was undeniable and startling: "You need to be forgiven for believing that your relative wants to do this, or is capable of doing this. You need to be forgiven for accusing her of such thoughts." This was my moment of truth—a real aha moment. Waking up to the fact that mental malpractice does not have a presence or power, and therefore has no perpetrator or victim, was the turning point in my healing. The belief that someone could or even wanted to harm me through evil thinking simply vanished in the light of this spiritual fact. With this wonderful insight, I was immediately able to forgive this relative, and forgive myself for having accused her.
