Poured cement?

''But that's poured cement!'' my young friend exclaimed. I laughed, not having heard that expression before. It means that a decision has been made or an event has taken place, and there is not much you can do about it.

I explained to my friend that there is no impossible or irreversible situation, that things can and do change when we turn to God to show us the way. The Master, Christ Jesus, often healed what was considered incurable. He didn't flinch or falter in the face of even the severest challenges. He turned to his Father, God, and expected God's power to heal - and it did.

We're currently faced with a housing problem. Building costs have soared and mortgage rates are high. It certainly seems as if the cement has been poured and all we can do is sit tight and endure the situation. But is that all we can do?

When my husband returned from the military at the end of World War II, the apartment that had been adequate for my toddler and me proved to be quite inadequate for the three of us. The rooms seemed to contract, and we needed them to expand! At that time the housing situation was even more difficult than it is now.

I began to pray about the situation, realizing that God is divine Love and that He does care for the needs of all His children. I refused to accept the thought of limited housing being expressed by everyone and prayed frequently. This wasn't just a hit-and-miss, surface kind of prayer, but consecrated, watchful prayer, anchored in an understanding trust in God.

Aggressive, negative thoughts bombarded me almost constantly: ''Where do you expect to find a place?'' ''There is nothing available.'' ''You are living in a dream world if you think you can find something.'' I would negate these suggestions and reply quickly, ''I don't know where, but God does, and He supplies every need of His children.''

I wasn't surprised when, after I had been praying in this way for a short time, the agent of the apartment complex where we lived came to us. He asked if we would be interested in a larger apartment that was going to be available!

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes encouragingly, ''Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.'' n1 What had happened to the ''poured cement'' concept that nothing, absolutely nothing, in the way of housing was available for anyone? The steadfast affirmation of ''the enduring, the good, and the true,'' had overruled that mistaken, satanic belief. It was divinely natural that the allness of God's goodness had been manifested in what would most readily fill our needs - larger quarters. The words of the Master, ''In my Father's house are many mansions,'' n 2 which had supported and comforted me, had been proved true.

n1 Science and Health, p. 261.

n2 John 14:2.

It makes no difference how entrenched a feeling of hopelessness seems to be. It has no actual power, for nothing is impossible to God.

At first I felt a bit guilty about accepting the larger apartment, since I knew of quite a few families that had several children and I felt they needed more space than we did. But God had met my need and I realized He would also care for the others. It wasn't long before things began to break and the other families were provided for. Again the ''poured cement'' concept was disproved.

And what about health? Do we accept the belief that we or someone else has a health problem that cannot be healed? Jesus healed every type of disease, and he never accepted incurability as a fact. He understood that blindness, deafness, lameness, and so forth were not God-created realities. He taught that God is good, the one supreme power. And because, as Genesis tells us, God made man in His image, the Master perceived the actual selfhood of everyone to be spiritual and whole. He healed on this basis and told us we could too if we followed his teachings and example.

We can begin right now, even in small ways, to disprove the ''poured cement'' theory. With God all things are possible. DAILY BIBLE VERSE All things work together for good to them that love God. Romans 8:28.