I was out for a walk in a public garden one cold winter day, when a squirrel ran up to me. He got up onto his haunches and begged me for food. I happened to have a small bag of unsalted peanuts in my pocket, and I was so taken by his sweet face that I couldn’t help but offer him one. He quickly took it and ran off, but other squirrels in the park started to come up to me. Before I knew it, a scuffle broke out that resulted in my hands being badly bitten and scratched. I stood up, shaking a hand vehemently and telling one squirrel that was hanging on with his teeth and claws to let go of my thumb! Finally, he did. Both hands were bleeding badly, so I covered them to prevent further loss of blood.
I wondered where to get help and remembered that a building management company was nearby. As I started in that direction, I met two employees headed back to work there and they immediately offered to assist me. I cleaned up in their facility while they found some bandages and helped me apply them. They were very concerned as I continued to bleed through the bandages and said they thought I would need stitches and a rabies shot. I was so grateful for their care, and immediate help. I felt love for all they were doing in their kind actions, and I assured them I would get it taken care of.
As I left to go home, I thought about what they had said, but then another thought came to mind: I could be healed through prayer as taught by Jesus and explained by Mary Baker Eddy in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. I knew there were Christian Science practitioners who could help me with this type of healing prayer and Christian Science nurses who could support me with bandaging the wound. I humbly asked, “God, what should I do?” Then I listened. That’s when this line from the Bible came to me: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalms 46:10), followed by the ideas from Isaiah 41:10: “I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
