Very early one morning, about 1:30 a.m., I was suddenly awakened with an unusual sensation in my side and lower back. Quickly following, I felt intense pain, and I was having trouble breathing. My gasps and abrupt movements to find a comfortable position awakened my wife, who asked if I wanted her prayerful help. I indicated yes as I rolled off the bed onto the floor, seeking comfort on a firmer surface.
I was seized with a penetrating fear, and it was tempting to let it take over my thinking. Realizing I was curious what the problem might be instead of rejecting it as a completely false suggestion, I quickly turned my thought away from the symptoms and began to give myself a Christian Science treatment. I knew that man is a spiritual idea created by God and is governed absolutely by divine law. I silently declared that as the reflection of God, I was immortal, perfect, not subject to mortal laws about health and body.
Seeking my freedom by knowing the truth about myself, I began denying out loud each suggestion that God’s idea, man, could be vulnerable to attack. I firmly reversed the picture of me as a sickly mortal, reminding myself I was not made of matter, nor was God absent at this very moment—or ever.
