Dismiss a claim of suffering

March 1, 2010 | 8 comments

Do you like to have quick healings? I do. They don’t always happen as fast as hoped, but there are several rules to follow that enable rapid healings to occur.

One of those rules is to dismiss the claim of suffering quickly. Don’t examine it, wonder about it, mull over it, argue with it or consider for a micro-second that it is real or worthy of acceptance. Dismiss it promptly.

Two Sunday mornings ago, I woke up feeling fine, but when I started to walk around the house I had an odd limp in my right leg that wouldn’t straighten out. The day before I had spent several hours on a vigorous snowmobile trip in the wilderness. But I could not recall any reason to suffer from the outing. My muscles didn’t hurt. But something was mechanically wrong in my hip, like the bones weren’t lined up right making it impossible to walk correctly.

I wasn’t sure where to focus my prayer.

I remembered Mary Baker Eddy’s statement, “Treat a belief in sickness as you would sin, with sudden dismissal.” This was not a belief of sickness or sin I was struggling with, that I could tell anyway, but of anatomical malfunction, but I figured the rule would work just as well anyway.

So, I dismissed the claim. Like dismissing a class of students and watching them promptly exit the room, I dismissed the belief that something was wrong with my hip or leg or whatever, and that I had God-given freedom to walk with ease and without difficulty. I was a spiritual child of God, immune to hurt or harm of any kind, and that was that.
I put it out of my mind.

After church, I dressed for a 1:00 tennis match, and noticed that I was still hobbling around from this weird limp. “I can’t play tennis,” thought protested. “I can’t even run to a ball!”

I thought back to my earlier dismissal of this claim, and did it again.

Obviously the error had not exited my thought even though I had expected it too. It needed another heartier dismissal that left no room for misinterpretation. A dismissal of error by truth must not leave opportunity for error to decide whether it wants to be dismissed or not. The dismissal needs to be emphatic enough to send error out the exit door of possibility without fuss or resistance.

So, I did it again. I dropped any consideration that there was a reason to suffer. Instead of seeing the claim as a physical problem in my body as that I needed to dismiss, I saw the claim as an attempt to halt my progress as a spiritual thinker, as some sneaky evil at work in the background of consciousness trying to hobble me mentally and physically and prevent freedom of movement in my life and in my healing practice.

I didn’t know what the sneaky culprit was, but I didn’t need to know. Having a sense of its intent was sufficient.

With a definitive declaration of “You don’t belong or exist here in my experience, and I refuse to accept you,” I dismissed the suggestion that I had anything to fear on the tennis court. Off to the club I went without giving the belief another second of attention. I forgot about it, put it out permanently and didn’t look back.

It wasn’t until three days later that I remembered the healing. Evidently on the way to the club, the physical healing occurred, for I played tennis with total ease, joy and freedom, and the limp hasn’t even remotely presented itself since.

I’m grateful for the quick healing and lessons learned.

Bodily suffering may feel physical, but it never is. It’s mental, in mortal mind. It’s a belief entertained, not dismissed. So, don’t be bashful about sending it out if you don’t want it hanging around in your experience. Dismiss the unruly intruder and slam the door shut as it leaves your mental precincts.

8 thoughts on “Dismiss a claim of suffering”

  1. This is exactly what I need to change my thinking about a situation that has lingered in my consciousness way too long. Blessings to you for all your insights. Vicki

  2. Beautiful experience, Evan! Thanks for sharing so freely with your healing insights. Any comments on how to dismiss something that has been hanging around in consciousness for years (literally), even though it has already been dismissed many times but still not left….? Thank you.

  3. Wow! How wonderful! Thanks for sharing that experience! I found it very helpful, as I too have been dealing with a claim that would suggest that it can inhibit my activity, etc.

  4. When I read your post this morning I especially twigged to the thought that error could not “hobble me mentally or physically” nor halt my ability to heal. I am sticking to that thought process. Thanks again, Evan, you always seem to write exactly what I need.

  5. Thanks a lot, Evan. This is so helpful…and I’m very grateful for the clear way in which you express God’s love to all. Miki

  6. To Evan: I was wondering if you have an answer for this comment posted by someone regarding your blog, “Dismiss a Claim of Suffering” (as I seem to be in the same boat as that person): The person asked you: Any comments on how to dismiss something that has been hanging around in consciousness for years (literally), even though it has already been dismissed many times but still not left….?

  7. How to dismiss a chronic claim?

    When a teacher dismisses a student from a classroom, the student is not gone until he or she leaves the room. If the student is resistant or hesitant to leave, then some extra persuasion and authority is needed.

    In the instance of chronic belief, some extra authority may be needed to make the dismissal final and have the intruder effectively removed from the premises.

    “Get ye hence Satan,” was a powerful and authoritative command by Jesus to the devil when Jesus was finished with being tempted by Satan’s lures.

    Go the extra metaphysical step beyond dismissal to “Be gone once and for all,”to the lingering error, and back up the command with a clear understanding of its powerlessness and inability to hang around and be anything to begin with.

Leave a comment!

Keep the conversation going! Your email address will not be published.

*