This might be a good time to give you an example of how practical Christian Science is and how I used it for a nice healing recently. I was included in a trip to the movies with one of my 'grands' last week. As I got in the car, I snagged my foot against something on the floor in the back seat. When I looked down a moment later I realized that the nail on my big toe had been bent back and cracked about 2/3rds of the way up. I was startled as I did not feel any pain. It was beginning to bleed. As that toe was exposed in my sandals I was able to wrap a bit of tissue around it on the way to the theater and later wrapped it more securely with a paper napkin. By now it had begun to throb. Although the movie was starting, I began to pray about this situation. Christian Science bases its defintion of God on the first account of creation in Genesis. He is the only cause and creator and all that He creates is good. You and I are His beloved children, created in His very image and likeness. All that He is, we are by reflection. Mrs. Eddy gives a very full defintion in Science and Health. She gives us seven synonyms for God; Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life, Truth and Love. As I began to pray, I reached out to God as Our Father, as Jesus suggested with the Lord's Prayer. It was a great comfort to know I could turn to Him no matter what it was I needed and know He was right there, 'a very present help in trouble' as the Bible phrases it. I could do so without fear. Love would be ready with open arms to gather me in and comfort me. As this beloved child I could never be out of Love's control. God's love for me was intact. And that meant everything about me was untouched and intact as well. The word that came to mind was 'flawless'. A perfect gem is flawless, without cracks. That idea helped me see that my relationship to Good was also flawless and without any evidence of a crack or separation. Within minutes the pain disappeared and the bleeding stopped. I replaced the soiled napkine with a clean one. Once we were home I removed that and put on a bandaid. At that point there was some tenderness and the picture was not a pretty one. But I put my shoe back on and went about my day trusting that I was in Love's care. Whenever the incident came to mind I just thanked God and knew that I could rely on the truth of my 'flawlessness' to be evident. The next morning the bandaid came off in the shower. A piece of nail came away without any pain or bleeding, a much smaller piece than had appeared affected the day before. The nail bed was completely restored and there was no discoloration or swelling. The area looked healthy and normal.

Continuing to pray with the idea of being God's likeness, I reasoned that if something did not appear on the original, it could not suddenly happen to the reflected image. God has not been affected by this incident and I did not have to be either. Sometimes when I am praying I will remember a phrase from a familiar hymn. As I prayed about my toe what popped into my head was 'I know no life divided, O Lord of life, from Thee'. That is hymn 135 in our hymnal. To me it stands for no separation, no loss. Because my true spiritual identity is one with God, my human experience can be 'flawless' so there was no need to believe that I would lose the whole nail, and I hadn't. There is never a need to fear something that happened in the past, appeared to be present at the moment, or might result in the future. I am one with God right now and always have been. Since He fills all space where else could I ever be?

A sense of well being and peace washed over me and that was the end of the incident. Not a big deal in the overall scheme of things but proof to me that prayer works, the laws of God, good, are in operation on my behalf constantly. Examples like this help build understanding and confidence when greater challenges appear. I am most grateful.

Go in peace.