Melissa Lande - Adapted from the Christian Science Sentinel,
March 12, 2007.
My favorite sport is snowboarding. I love to push the limits, learn new tricks, and overcome challenges.
A few years ago, I was a member of a competitive snowboarding team. My coach was helping a lot of my teammates do a new trick on what is called a “C Box”—it’s a narrow, raised platform that curves like the letter C. It has sharp edges, and to master the trick requires impeccable balance.
When I saw how difficult it would be, I felt very afraid. I pictured myself falling and getting hurt. Filled with fear, I sat and watched the others try it.
My coach came up and asked why I wasn’t participating. I told him I was too scared. He told me that I had nothing to fear because every single rider on the hill had the strength, capability, and balance necessary to succeed.
He knew what he was talking about, so I decided to try it. But I went ahead before really mastering the fear. And as soon as I rode onto the box, I slipped, and my hip landed hard on the metal edge. I fell to the ground and lay there, unable to move my neck and back. I thought my hip bone was broken for sure. I was in pain and even more afraid.
The coach called for medical assistance, and the paramedics arrived quickly. They said they thought I’d broken my hip, my spine, and possibly my neck. They rushed me to the hospital for X-rays.
My mother rode with me in the ambulance. We began to pray together, as we do when we’re confronted with any kind of trouble. Even though things didn’t look good, we affirmed that God was always present and at hand. This knowledge had helped me before, and I trusted that I was in God’s heavenly kingdom, where there are no accidents or pain.
One of our favorite quotes from Science and Health really helped me right then. It reads,
Have no fear that matter can ache, swell, and be inflamed as the result of a law of any kind, when it is self-evident that matter can have no pain nor inflammation (p. 393)
This is because God created man spiritually, and matter is not in charge of God’s idea. To me, this meant I couldn’t have been injured or in any pain because God was protecting me. And because God was always in control, any sort of material injury could not affect me as God’s spiritual reflection.
The X-rays showed that nothing was broken, but I was severely bruised. I was very grateful for this turn of events. I wasn’t able to move until some hours later, and then I was released from the hospital in a wheelchair. My mom and I had spoken with the doctors and let them know that we didn’t want any medical treatment. They were very kind and respected our wishes. I wanted to rely on prayer and God alone for full healing.
At home, my mom shared with me another helpful quote from Science and Health: “It is well to be calm in sickness; to be hopeful is still better; but to understand that sickness is not real and that Truth can destroy its seeming reality, is best of all, for this understanding is the universal and perfect remedy” (pp. 393–394). I trusted that God was giving me the strength, capability, and understanding necessary for healing.
Since I wasn’t able to go to school that week, my mother and I spent time constantly reaffirming God’s omnipotence. I refused to look at my injuries. Instead, I prayed to see myself as the perfect image of God. After a few days, I was able to walk and made rapid progress.
Just a week after this incident, one of the biggest snowboarding competitions of the year was being held—the Midwest championship. I’d been training all year for this competition, and thought I had a chance to qualify for the national event.
But because I wasn’t sure I’d be in good enough shape to compete, at first I gave up on the idea of competing. Then I talked it over with my mom, and we decided to buckle down in prayer again. But my mom made two things clear: first, that there was no pressure from her or my dad about the competition. I could really make my own decision. Second, that she wanted me to pray and think wisely about whether or not I should compete. And she made the point that even if I did decide to go ahead, if I didn’t feel ready when I actually got to the point of competing, it was totally fine for me to back off. This was really helpful, but I was also grateful for her prayers supporting my progress.
I’d learned from my study of the Bible and Science and Health that my strength was spiritual and infinite. Nothing could take it away from me. Because strength is spiritual, it can’t be depleted, broken, or bruised. I held on to the knowledge that I was always complete and could never fall from God’s grace. I refused to let any sense of limitation enter my consciousness. I really felt that I lived in harmony with God, and that He was sustaining me.
As these ideas grew clearer, they really drove out any residue of fear about the past incident or fear about what might happen in the upcoming competition. When the fear was gone, I knew it was right for me to compete. I had worked hard to prepare physically and, more important, spiritually.
When the day of the big competition arrived, I felt a little unsure. It wasn’t that I doubted my healing or even that God was with me. It was just that I wanted to make sure I was ready for the kind of mental and physical demands a competition can make on an athlete. So I sat and prayed quietly by myself. I reaffirmed everything I had learned over the past week.
Right before my first run, I thought about “the scientific statement of being” in Science and Health. It begins: “There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all” (p. 468). I held tightly to these truths. And I felt God protecting and governing me.
I expanded my prayers to include all the competitors. I knew we were all children of God and perfectly capable of expressing strength, balance, and courage as we rode.
As soon as my run was done, I felt instant gratitude for everything God had given me. I had felt no pain and executed my tricks very well. I was so happy, filled up completely with God’s love for me and for every one of His children.
I was calm as I waited for the results of the competition. I wasn’t concerned about how I’d place or how anyone else would do—that wasn’t the point. As it turned out, I placed second and advanced to the National Championship in Colorado. I was so excited that I had done well, but I was even more excited about this demonstration of God’s wonderful presence in my life. That’s a prize I carry with me still.
This article first appeared on www.spirituality.com.
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This is a really good healing. Very inspiring.