A few weeks ago there appeared in the weekly Bible Lesson (“God the Only Cause and Creator”) this passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 69: “… ‘Do you teach that Spirit creates materially, or do you declare that Spirit is infinite, therefore matter is out of the question?’ ” That question really grabbed my attention and stayed with me.
A few days later, I began to experience an annoying pain in my right arm. Since I was on vacation at a tennis resort and had several matches scheduled, I started thinking, “Oh no, maybe I won’t be able to play; maybe if I stretched, or soaked in a hot tub or applied ice packs or something, I’d get through the next few matches.” But right at that moment my thought returned to the above reference. I wanted to leave matter completely out of the picture! I turned to an article in the December 2010 Christian Science Journal entitled “Petition- an Important Element of Prayer” and started a prayer of petition. I asked God to just rid my thinking of all these matter-based suggestions of methods to deal with a painful arm. I pleaded for a purely spiritual recognition of my perfection at that very moment.
Soon the pain was gone. I played tennis every day for the next ten days with no ill effects. I was grateful for two reasons: I wanted to realize the blessing of “leaving matter out of the picture”… and I wanted to enjoy the rest of my vacation!
H.F.