"I was so grateful not to miss one minute of the day.”
/I certainly have experienced so much healing and growth on, and since, our Association Day! While walking to Association, I tripped on an uneven part of the sidewalk, while carrying my purse in one hand and a book bag in the other, and fell flat on my face. My dear companion (and passing strangers, too) was so helpful. As I righted myself, I immediately saw this as mortal mind’s attempt to impress me and take away my joy. I knew, and said aloud, that I was going to the best possible place for healing. And I was!
I was so grateful that the Association had arranged for a Christian Science nurse to be on duty that day. I was so carefully and lovingly made presentable and was so very grateful not to miss one minute of the day. I had always appreciated that Mrs. Eddy made the provision for Christian Science nurses, but had never before received such care myself. What a blessing and what a deeper appreciation I had!
The kindness of my fellow members, all of whom were seeing through the human picture to who I really was, was such a comfort. I felt myself a part of the Association family in a way I never had felt before. I also found myself completely alert and attentive to the address, was free of pain, and was so grateful to be present. Further nursing care was given during the lunch interval, and I was thankful, not only for the practical care, but also for the spiritual support and follow-up. The nurse’s suggestion that there could be no separation was a helpful thought to me.
At home, I called on the support of a loving practitioner, who helped me greatly to uplift my thinking each day. Despite her help, I began to feel very concerned about my appearance. How could I serve as Second Reader looking like this? I was imagining, with dismay, all of the “public” events of the very busy week coming up. But a wonderful passage from the previous week’s Bible Lesson came to me, having to do with “casting down imaginations.” (“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” [II Corinthians, 10:5]) This angel message enabled me to stop imagining and to turn my thought to who I am in reality, always. Interestingly, in the week that followed, in a number of social situations, no mention was made of my appearance.
The support of the practitioner (who, at one point, referred to this as a “wake-up fall”) was so important and helpful in my healing. We worked with the ideas of my being God’s perfect reflection – that nothing could stop or interfere with it; of being upheld by God, who was always upholding me; and harmony – that my harmony was intact and untouched. My husband also shared a thought from his teacher – “Be careful the way you use the word ‘I.’” In addition, the topic of the Lesson that week, “Doctrine of Atonement,” was particularly full of healing truths that spoke directly to me. Some of the thoughts were: “…Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony…” “Let us rid ourselves of the belief that man is separated from God… ” “The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus’ time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their reality in human consciousness…” “Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man…” “…The divine Principle of man remaining perfect, the divine idea or reflection, man, remains perfect.” And there were so many more.
I was able to serve as Second Reader on Sunday with perfect confidence and poise, feeling unselfed and unselfconscious. There was further growth the next Sunday, when I served as First Reader for the first time ever (having previously felt that I was “not ready”). Just a few days later, there was a kind of “click” in my nose, and all was in place.
I am so very grateful for all the growth in understanding and appreciation that I have experienced in these past weeks. I have begun to understand more deeply the enormity of the gift that Mrs. Eddy has given us.