As I started to rise from a sitting position, I felt an excruciating pain in my lower back and almost collapsed on the floor. Sheer human willpower got me to the bed in my hotel room to lie down.
My Christian Science students’ association (an annual meeting for students of a teacher of Christian Science) was to begin in about an hour and I feared that I would not make it. My yearly custom was to take a shuttle from the airport to a nearby hotel and then walk to the association, which was about an hour away by foot. I was already at the hotel and needed to finish getting ready before the hour-long walk.
At first I thought I’d call a Christian Science practitioner, someone who is available to resolve issues through prayer, but I felt this time that I should handle the problem on my own. This command from the Bible came to mind: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5, 6). I knew from decades of relying on God for aid that I could trust Him to get me where I needed to go and to get me there intact. This thought of assurance from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy also comforted me: “Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself. If you sprain the muscles or wound the flesh, your remedy is at hand” (p. 385). I knew my remedy could be found in Christian Science.
