It began with a mild irritation on my skin—a small patch that didn’t seem serious but reminded me of an earlier experience. Years before, I had been healed of a very painful skin rash. At the time, I had visited a Christian Science practitioner to ask for help through prayer. During that visit, it became clear that I was greatly disturbed by a situation in my college dorm. She had shared spiritual truths that uplifted my thought to a God-centered view. As our talk ended and I was getting ready to go, she lovingly pointed out that I was healed—and I was. Every trace of the rash had vanished. The ease and freedom I felt in that moment were unforgettable.
Now, facing a similar physical condition, I again turned to prayer. What came to light was a familiar pattern of thinking—a tendency to react to faults I perceived in other people. When they acted in ways I found inconsiderate or unkind, I felt justified in being disappointed and disturbed.
Then a liberating realization came: Irritation was no part of God’s entirely spiritual creation, and therefore had never belonged to me—or to anyone. The temptation to identify others as flawed or myself as critical was actually a misunderstanding of my innate expression of God, eternal Love.
