After a longtime boss retired, whom I had been very comfortable working with, I was not sure where I stood with my new boss. He seemed to think I should be a guinea pig for the sales group, giving me assignments that greatly challenged me. For a few months I struggled with implementing the new programs and ideas and was being pulled out of my comfort zone. Fear would grip me, and work seemed to become very stressful with the addition of new duties and expectations.
One evening during this time, I was doing a maneuver while snorkeling with my wife and son in a local pool, and I suddenly felt a small, sharp pain in my back. The pain seemed to go away after a while, but then I was awakened with it many times that night. By morning I was in constant pain. An hour before I needed to be at work, I could not even stand long enough to get ready, so I decided to call a Christian Science practitioner. I remember these words from the conversation: “You are a spiritual being; the pain is not a part of you.” With the power behind those few words, I was able to get up and ready myself for work. I worked with the practitioner for five days, struggling to find my freedom.
Two days after the problem surfaced I attended a Wednesday evening testimony meeting at a branch Church of Christ, Scientist. These words in the opening hymn spoke directly to me:
