FOUR YEARS AGO, a dear friend wanted to do something special for my daughter and me. She arranged for the three of us to get a pedicure. Neither my daughter nor I had ever had one, so this was going to be a lovely adventure. No one knew I had not worn nail polish for almost 40 years. It had meant swollen eyes and red, itching skin all over my body. But now, thankfully, through a gift of love, I was given an opportunity to rid my thought of fear and prove the healing effect of gratitude.
I had first noticed the above-mentioned symptoms while I was substitute teaching right out of college and I had an obnoxious reaction to nail polish. After several days, I remember sitting down on my bed and giving myself a little talk. I went over many things I had learned in Sunday School. One of my Sunday School teachers was a lawyer, and I remembered him saying Sunday after Sunday that we needed to approach any challenge from the standpoint of a lawyer arguing for truth in the case. He’d remind us, “Reason is the most active human faculty” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 327). And he never let us forget this rule of thinking. He challenged us with questions like, Would your argument hold up in the court of Spirit, God? Is your reasoning sound? Those mental exercises were absolutely vital to my own spiritual growth. I was no longer in Sunday School, but I used the same reasoning skills I had been taught.
As I did, I realized I had been tricked into believing that allergic reactions were just part of the chemistry that make up many human beings. This allergy just happened to be a part of my uniqueness. But I could just hear my Sunday School teacher saying that I must reason correctly. So I looked at this situation again from a more spiritual standpoint. I reasoned simply that this skin reaction was not good, so it could not be a part of my true identity as God’s child. God is good. God is Spirit. I am God’s spiritual reflection. Matter, my skin, has nothing to do with my God-given, spiritual identity. Joy, love, patience, intelligence are what really define me.
I did not miss a day of teaching while praying along these lines, and not one person questioned my looks. By the end of the week, the ugly rash was gone.
But from then on I never wore nail polish, and being around paint fumes was always a challenge. Obviously, from a prayerful standpoint, I hadn’t gotten to the root of the problem—I needed to do a better job of arguing my case. Why did I think it was easier to brush over this condition than face it? I could hear my husband saying, “Is our faith so small we’re afraid to have it tested?” My heart cried when I realized that was exactly what was happening. I wasn’t sure why.
Then the Christ spoke loud and clear: “Don’t forget or neglect your own healings, Katie—healings you have already demonstrated. This is just a tactic of mortal mind to keep you looking and thinking about your body. Trust the Eternal.” I remember distinctly recalling all the wonderful healings I had experienced, and I remember the absolute, supremely wonderful feeling of gratitude for my Father-Mother’s care for me and my family through all those years. Gratitude swelled in my heart. The day my daughter and I, and my friend, had the appointment for the pedicure, I walked into the salon without fear, and I left with a heart overflowing with gratitude—and the prettiest toes that have ever walked in my shoes!
I did not tell anyone about this healing for some time because I wanted to fully understand the magnitude of why gratitude, sincere gratitude to God, is so important.
While studying one of our Christian Science Bible Lessons, this statement brought a final concluding thought, and I was able to identify what I had been doing for all those years: “We bow down to matter, and entertain finite thoughts of God like the pagan idolater. . . . mortal illusions would rob God, slay man, and meanwhile would spread their table with cannibal tidbits and give thanks” (Science and Health, p. 214). I had given gratitude for the healing years ago, yet had kept the crumbs of material knowledge still on the table of my thought. My duster to clean that table was undivided gratitude.
The question then must always be raised, Am I bowing down to matter and letting tidbits of material knowledge linger in my thought? Or are am I filling my thoughts with gratitude and looking up to Spirit? It is gratitude to our Father-Mother God that lifts thought to Spirit, God—always!
I never had a reaction to that pedicure. Ever since then I’ve loved being able to wear nail polish on my fingers and toes. It’s so much fun!
Palmer, Alaska, US
