Heat and fatigue overcome; Knees healed while hiking in Zion National Park, Utah

I Made it to the Top of Angel’s Landing!

This last September 2020, my husband and I rented an RV and drove to Utah to visit all the beautiful National Parks like many others during the pandemic. On our first day of hiking in Zion National Park, we decided take the hike called Angel’s Landing. We did not know it at the time, but it is one of the most challenging hikes in the park. So, on this hot September day we decide to hike this trail at 2pm in the afternoon. As we headed up, we passed a woman bent over, red-faced and panting. I immediately felt impelled to pray. If I accepted that scenario for her, I was accepting it for myself too, and I would not make it up that hill. But instead, if I turned to God and saw, what is defined in Christian Science as the true picture of man’s abilities, I could make it to the top and enjoy the beautiful view of that part of the Park. Obviously, I decided to take the second option. I began to remind myself that I, and all of mankind male and female, was the perfect expression of an all good, perfect God. I could claim strength and stamina as mine because those abilities come from God, who is my source. There were times, while working my way up that mountain, that I had to stop to rest but I did not stop my prayers. I made it to the top. The woman, whom I had seen earlier, made it to the top as well. As she turned the last bend, her companions shouted her name they were so surprised to see her. Her continence had totally changed. She said “Yes, I made it! See, even a woman with heart problems who had recently overcome cancer, could make it to the top!” I silently rejoiced with her.

There is more to the story for me, as I was heading back down the mountain, my knees started hurting so much that I could barely walk. There is an idea that going down the slope is harder that going up – especially on the knees. In the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Eddy, there is an allegory to a court case where material assumptions are presented and allayed by spiritual truth. There is no material truth. Matter and its claims are contrary to God and cannot emanate from God, Spirit. I paused and leaned into the rock where there was a little sliver of shade. I looked around at the beautiful breathtaking scenes. I thought of how they were just examples of the greatness & power of God. I took my case to the court of Spirit. Armed with the laws of Spirit; I took my stand. I turned my thought completely over to God. I let the feeling of health fill up my whole body from my toes to my nose. I saw the problem as an illusive claim of what the bible calls the carnal mind. I was instead, an expression of the divine Mind – God. That Mind knew only health. This claim on my being of age or fatigue or out of shape was overcome by the feeling of God’s expression of health. That was the truth that filled my thought. It takes more time to read this than it took for my knees to stop hurting completely. I headed down the mountain without any more pain. In the next 8 days, we hiked every day 4 -6 miles each day. We saw and felt the grandeur of God while we were looking out over many grand mountain-top expanses and wide-open night skies. My husband and I had a wonderful time.

Karen McMullen