Testimony of Healing

Back on stage

I was performing in our dance studio’s holiday show. When another dancer and I tossed my friend into the air, something went wrong. She landed on me hard, and I fell. “That blew your back out!” I thought, as I felt a sharp pain in my back. But I immediately replaced those words with “Get up, the show must go on.” I stood up and completed the routine.

As soon as I exited the stage, friends and dance teachers who had seen me fall gathered round me and tried to help. There were suggestions coming from every direction: “Get a doctor, and some ice.” “Allison, you won’t be able to perform any more of your routines tonight—this is serious.” Unable to stand, I lay down on the floor.

I was praying to God, knowing that nothing could ever separate me from His loving arms. I saw my dad enter backstage, and I knew that he was praying for me, too. Dad knelt down beside me. I told him that I needed to get back on stage. “No way,” I heard people say.

Then I remembered a line from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy. It says that God “is heard when the senses are silent” (p.89). Even though we couldn’t go to a quiet place to pray, my dad and I realized we could block out everything that was going on around us and step into the quiet prayer “closet” that Jesus talked about in the Bible (see Matt. 6:6). That closet is our thinking, where we can hear messages from God.

When I did that, a helpful thought came to me: “When I dance, I am expressing God, and nothing can interfere with that expression.” I realized that nothing could keep me—a reflection of God—from expressing God, His grace and joy. I knew then that I was perfect and whole.

After a few minutes of praying this way, I found the pain was beginning to subside. I got up, and everyone saw that I was well enough to dance. I went out on stage to perform the next routine with joy. I kept my thoughts filled with the ideas God was giving me—His truth.

The next day, there was no soreness left. I was completely free. I’m very grateful for God’s ever-present love.

Allison Schoening
Kenmore, Washington

Reprinted with permission from the Christian Science Sentinel September 26, 2005, page 20
Copyright © 2005 The Christian Science Publishing Society
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