Swimming is an activity I enjoy a great deal. However, the first time I went swimming this spring, one of my ears stopped up. This had never happened before, but I didn’t think much about it and assumed it would soon correct itself. However, for several weeks as I continued to swim the ear continued to be stopped up. At that point I realized I needed to pray about it. I affirmed that every function of my body is governed by the one divine Mind, which is God, and thus performs normally and harmoniously. The principle of God’s harmonious universe provides that an activity that expresses God, such as swimming, can’t result in harm or an abnormal condition.
However, several weeks passed, the ear didn’t clear, and I noticed that a numbness was creeping into my cheek. At that point several fear-filled questions flooded my consciousness: What is this? Why doesn’t it go away? Will it affect my hearing?
I dealt with these fears by more diligently turning to what I’ve learned about God’s all-good government. The first chapter of Genesis states that man is made in the image and likeness of God, thus is spiritual and perfect. Since God is constant, unchanging goodness, I reasoned that I must also be all good, and couldn’t lose that perfection (even if it appeared to be so). My true spiritual substance as an idea of God could not be affected by any material condition or circumstance, and consistently acknowledging this brought it out in my experience.
As I continued to affirm the truth (as God sees it) about my identity and deny any abnormal condition, my fears left, the ear cleared and did not get stopped up again. I continue to swim with joy and gratitude!
NH