A few winters ago, I began to notice some discomfort in my right foot nearly every day as I strapped on heavy-duty boots and made my way through snowy Boston to work. I didn’t think a whole lot about it at first, chalking up the discomfort to my boots, thinking that maybe I had laced them too tightly. But one day in early spring, after the snow had begun to melt and I was no longer wearing the boots, there was a searing pain in my foot. It made me question whether I should or could even walk.
I realized that I needed to stop and pray about the condition right away. I’ve learned in my study and practice of Christian Science that it is vital to recognize that error—any discordant situation—has in reality no part of our lives because God did not create it. The condition with my foot certainly was no exception.
I began praying with “the scientific statement of being” in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (see p. 468). This helped me to affirm the allness of God and my unbroken completeness as part of God’s creation.
“The scientific statement of being” begins: “There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all.” What I understood that to mean was that my foot was not something independent of God’s creation, able to cause pain or discomfort. In actuality it was part of the “infinite manifestation” of God.
After I prayed along these lines, my foot felt much better and I was able to walk to work that day just fine. Over the next week, the pain in my foot completely disappeared and remained gone.
However, shortly after the pain left, a blister developed under the big toe of my right foot. While not painful, it was inconvenient. The blister was in the same spot where my foot had previously been tender and painful. Later, the blister filled with blood, and I became concerned.
I continued to pray, and one night I gained some powerful inspiration during quiet prayerful time studying the Christian Science Bible Lesson for that week. The Lesson inspired me to think deeply about what creation really is, and God as creator of all. I wasn’t specifically praying about my foot, but rather I was checking my thought about my spiritual identity—seeing that I have ever been and ever will be whole, complete, painless, free, and full of joy.
One of the passages from the Lesson rang like a wake-up call to me. It’s from Science and Health: “We must look deep into realism instead of accepting only the outward sense of things” (p. 129). That is an encouraging demand, command, and challenge to each of us, and I took it up. I began monitoring my thinking to ensure that the way I was seeing myself and others was as God sees us. Our real being is whole and pure, filled with spiritual qualities such as love, patience, compassion, integrity, strength, and courage.
As I prayed, I was inspired to declare firmly that there is no partial healing under God’s care, but only complete healing. The thoughts that I hadn’t had a complete healing because of the blister (even though the pain had left), and that I wasn’t a good healer, were lies. I determined not to give those claims any power over me and my being, and to affirm God’s complete all-power.
It came as no surprise to me that within a very short time of gaining this clear spiritual insight, the blister began to drain. I went to the bathroom to wash my foot. As I cleansed it, naturally and painlessly (and to my surprise!) a slender, sharp object about an inch long came out of my foot. I was completely in awe.
This very clearly proved to me that the healing was complete. When I understood that my spiritual identity is forever undamaged, that in fact it cannot be damaged in any way, then the expulsion of an object that was no part of me happened without any struggle.
I am grateful that this healing experience reminded me of the omnipotence of God and how the practice of Christian Science is based on growing closer to God.
West Roxbury, Massachusetts, US
