Dog recovers health and bark

Our family had an experience two years ago that led to a clearer understanding of God’s tender care for all His creatures. Our dog, Leia, seemed to be fine on Friday night, although we had noticed earlier in the week that she had lost her bark. She is a big, older dog, and her new bark was rather high-pitched and faint. On Saturday morning she was limping, and we put an ace bandage on her paw to protect it, although we couldn’t see anything wrong with it. She spent the day indoors, slowly hobbling a few places, and mainly panting a lot. She would eat and drink only a little.

Although we had been praying, we decided to call a Christian Science practitioner to help us, as we were finding it increasingly difficult to remain confident in our prayers and unimpressed by Leia’s condition. The practitioner reminded us that Mind knows the idea “dog,” and the healthy, comfortable, happy dog is the only dog there is. Leia could lack nothing, as a spiritual idea is complete. We couldn’t be deceived into believing anything less.

By Sunday morning Leia couldn’t walk at all. Because she is a big dog, it was awkward trying to lift her to take her outside periodically. I considered calling a vet who makes house calls to help us figure out a way to meet her needs, but I was concerned that the vet would perhaps diagnose something serious and recommend putting her to sleep. Despite my concerns, I knew I could trust God’s care for Leia and that she could be completely healed. Our family has turned to God for help in many situations, and we knew that treatment through prayer was reliable.

Nevertheless, when there wasn’t improvement, I decided to take the step of calling two vets I had located on the Internet. One was closed and the other said that their vet on call that day did not go to homes. At that point we realized this was an opportunity to dig deeper into Christian Science and witness a healing.

We decided to call the Christian Science practitioner for help again, and what a blessing it was! She answered questions, calmed fears, and supported us in our prayers. I began to see that divine Mind knows only the perfection of its own ideas. The dog of God’s creating is spiritual, whole, indestructible—and I couldn’t be deluded into believing that any other version of Leia was present. I saw that her job is to express joy, love, activity, faithfulness, vigor, strength, curiosity, freedom, fidelity, courage, health. She has no other selfhood—no sick, limited, or inactive selfhood.

In the Bible, it is recorded that when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36 ). While this title was reserved exclusively for Jesus, it occurred to me to think of Leia as “the dog of God,” and affirm that she exists only as an expression of God’s perfect idea of “dog.”

In the Manual of The Mother Church, Mary Baker Eddy writes, “The members of this Church should daily watch and pray to be delivered from all evil, from prophesying, judging, condemning, counseling, influencing or being influenced erroneously” (p. 40 ). I saw that the issue we were dealing with wasn’t, at its core, a sick dog, but a false concept. I had to realize that I couldn’t be influenced erroneously, that nothing could make me believe a picture contrary to God’s creation, in which “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31 ). Every one of God’s ideas is perfect—always has been and always will be. Spiritual ideas are complete—nothing needs to be added to them or taken from them to make them so. I needed to know and feel that infinite Mind sees only its own creation, and that’s all I or anyone else can see.

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mrs. Eddy writes: “Comeliness and grace are independent of matter. Being possesses its qualities before they are perceived humanly. Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness in expression, form, outline, and color” (p. 247 ). It is natural to expect to see “the charms of His goodness” expressed in our loved ones, even our pets, and I made a point of thinking of Leia in this way for the rest of that Sunday.

By Monday morning, Leia was able to walk outside by herself without even a limp. She continued to make progress over the next few days, ate and drank normally, and got her bark back, too. She has remained healthy and active ever since.

Tori Dell
 Sacramento, California, US