Living Christian Science Today September 17, 2015

All creatures moving in harmony

By Patricia Ray

I love dogs. I love their unique personalities, their spirit and their playfulness, their sensitivity and their loyalty. But I suddenly found myself on the receiving end of one of their other traits, their need to protect their territory, and I began to find my lifelong love turning into fear.

I was on a 400-mile solo bicycle trip, and much of my route was on rural back roads that took me past small farms and country homes. After being chased by a number of dogs on the first day of my trip, I found myself approaching each new home along the route with trepidation, listening carefully for barking or even the jingling collar tags of a dog in hot pursuit of a trespassing bicyclist.

I had planned this trip for many months and intended to be on the road for nine days. I did not want my only memories of the ride to be escapes from angry dogs. At the end of that first day in my trip, I called a friend who is a Christian Scientist and explained my concerns. She reminded me of my God-given dominion, which we must claim for ourselves as part of God’s creation, and which I could express in all aspects of my riding experience. We also discussed this statement by Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “All of God’s creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible” (p. 514).

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