“Why should I accept that knees or joints could be worn out due to age or overuse?”

When I received the surprise package “To bear testimony to Truth,” I was truly glad to receive it, yet felt unworthy to read it.

For two to three months before that, I had been bothered by tendonitis around the knee. Sometimes while walking, I would suddenly feel my leg buckling under me, and there were times I would wake up in the middle of the night in pain. Each time the symptoms flared up, I would pray to see the unreality of this picture. The symptoms would abate to the point that I could get on with life, but then the cycle would repeat.

I enjoy walking, but that got to be difficult, climbing down stairs was painful, and thoughts of age catching up with me would often come to thought.

In early January, I was going to be away for a long weekend; just before that, the knee swelled up to the extent that it was difficult to move around. By then I had started reading the testimonies, and the phrase “exercise humility” came to thought. I decided to call a practitioner. One of the truths we worked with came from the testimony package—that error (the knee or pain) had no authority over me. God was the only power. No room for doubts here.

About the thought on exercising humility, I added “humility” to the qualities that Mary Baker Eddy mentions in Science and Health, page 4: “What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds.” The practitioner said that humility was good; it helped make the mortal mind go quiet. I certainly needed to quiet mortal-mind thoughts.

I worked with the practitioner for a few days, and one of the ideas shared was from Deuteronomy 29:5 “And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.” Why then should I accept that knees or joints could be worn out due to age or overuse?

Before I called for help, I had been letting myself dwell on why this problem occurred. (I know—this does not aid healing!) I had come to the conclusion that I had not worn proper walking shoes when I had done some extensive walking a few months earlier. But I had not told the practitioner, so it was very interesting that she was led to share this verse from Deuteronomy with me!

With the expectancy of healing, in a few days I was healed.

A post-script to this testimony is that I participated in a 12-mile walk for a worthy cause this Sunday, and feel good in every way about it!