We are revisiting content from other former-CS content creators and sharing posts that we feel might be helpful or of interest.This post originally appeared at Kindism.org and is reprinted with permission and slight modifications.
A few days before Christmas one of our children told us they had a “painful lump” on the side of their head, just behind their ear. We checked, and sure enough, there was a lump. It was late in the evening, and there were no other complaints, so we tried to take a picture of it, emailed the pediatrician, and my lizard brain kicked into overdrive with worry.
Cancer. An abscess. Some sort of tumor. A mysterious head injury. Lizard brain churned out dozens of scenarios, none of which ended well.
The pediatrician emailed back with a list of symptoms to keep an eye out for. Fever. Swelling. If it grows larger or changes size. If it bothers them more, call urgent care and bring them in.
We diligently checked. No fever. No changes. After a day or two of diligent checks and no changes, the child snapped at me “it wasn’t bothering me until you asked!”
As things obviously trended better, there was a follow-up message with the pediatrician. It was mostly likely a swollen lymph node, and it resolved on its own.
Eventually when asked the child just gave us the classic teenage side-eye and waved us from their room. They’re fine, now go away.
Kids these days.
If we’d still been in Christian Science, we would have worked diligently to “correct our thought.” We would have sat with “the books” for hours and likely called a Christian Science Practitioner to help. They would have lectured at the child for not having read the weekly lesson or being too prideful or acknowledging the material state (or whatever transgression causes painful lumps to manifest on the side of one’s head), and reiterated the unreality of matter, the falseness of the pain, the folly of erroneous thought.
This site offers support resources to help individuals negotiate a transition in a manner that best fits their needs and convictions. We do not advocate any one particular path but acknowledge that there are many legitimate pathways that can be personally and spiritually fulfilling.