Testimony of Healing October 11, 1993 Issue

I had gone to the dentist for regular checkups ever since I...

Carol Ann Lawson

I had gone to the dentist for regular checkups ever since I had teeth. I never thought too much about it; I guess I just assumed it was a normal and necessary part of taking care of oneself. At my most recent appointment, however, something happened that made me begin to think more about the whole issue of dentistry.

The hygienist prepared to clean my teeth, and proceeded to review her records. She wanted to know if there had been any change in my medical history since my last appointment. Now, she had asked me that before, but for some reason this time the question really seemed to sink in. Right then I began to see that what really needed to be examined was my motive for these regular dental visits. In a subtle way I had always looked to the dentist's good report to assure me that my teeth were OK. But suddenly trusting even a healthy medical history began to seem quite out of sync with what I was learning in Christian Science about my perfect, spiritual identity.

Mary Baker Eddy states, "In Christian Science there is never a retrograde step, never a return to positions outgrown" (Science and Health, p. 74). I was so glad to recognize that I had grown enough in my understanding of God, and of my permanent relationship to Him, to challenge the limited way I had been thinking before. Right there in the dentist's office I felt impelled to look solely to God for the entire measure of my identity.

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