In the fall of 2022, I attended an event that took place on a beach. When a friend arrived whom I hadn’t seen in a few years, we embraced with a big hug. Since we were in the sand, I had taken off my shoes, but my friend still had his shoes on, and accidentally stepped on my bare foot. One of my toes was badly hurt. I didn’t say anything about it, because this event was an important celebration for my friend, and I didn’t want to take away from the joyous occasion for even a moment.
Despite the pain, I decided not to examine the toe, as I didn’t want to be impressed with a material picture of injury. Instead, I prayed for myself as I had learned in Christian Science. Initially my prayer was simply to express love and continue to enjoy the company of those I was with at the celebration. The injury wasn’t noticeable to anyone else, and I was able to be myself and engage in conversations.
When it was time to leave the party, I got in my car and gave myself a Christian Science treatment while I drove. This treatment was specific prayer to spiritualize thought and recognize that the reality of being is spiritual, as Christian Science reveals. My prayer included an acknowledgment of the allness of God, and man’s inseparable relation to Him; an affirmation of the spiritual truths about myself as an idea of God; and, on the basis of these truths, recognition that accident and injury were mistaken beliefs that I could emphatically deny.
