In October of 2023, my husband and I were visiting our daughter in another city. Because my husband could not manage the stairs at this time, he slept on the sectional couch in the living room while I slept upstairs. I knew that if he needed me, he could call in the night.
The second night he called me about 3:00 a.m. As I groggily headed down the stairs, I missed the last step or two and fell very hard on one knee. It was extremely painful and I couldn’t stand. Right away, I emphatically repeated “the scientific statement of being” from the Christian Science textbook. It begins: “There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 468). And since I felt very faint from the pain, I reminded myself that all consciousness is in the one Mind, God, and that I was one with Him, fully expressing health and well-being. The feeling of faintness passed immediately, and I was able to get myself onto the couch for the remainder of the night.
In the morning, I still couldn’t walk. When our family kindly offered ice for the injury, I declined. I wanted to turn my attention away from matter and to ponder my intact, spiritual nature. I didn’t examine my knee, heeding Mrs. Eddy’s instruction: “Look away from the body into Truth and Love, the Principle of all happiness, harmony, and immortality” (Science and Health, p. 261).
