I woke one morning with an ache in a tooth that a dentist had filled more than a year before. He had said at the time that I might eventually need a crown to replace the tooth. I had forgotten about his warning, but it came back to me now along with the pain. As I went about my day, I prayed to understand more deeply my spiritual perfection as the complete likeness of God, good (see Genesis 1:26, 27), without any suffering or history of decay. By the next day, though, the pain was so intense that I had to stop everything I was doing and really face the fearful thoughts that seemed to be standing in the way of healing.

I realized that the first thought I needed to address was the assumption that a visit to the dentist would be the fastest and best route to relief. I countered that notion vigorously. As a lifelong Christian Scientist, I had experienced many quick healings of all kinds of conditions. For example, I had been healed of incapacitating back pain within a few days, significant progress coming when I made a commitment to turn only to God for both mental and physical comfort. 

At the previous week’s testimony meeting at my branch Church of Christ, Scientist, a couple of citations from the readings had particularly resonated with me, including this one from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: “Banish the belief that you can possibly entertain a single intruding pain which cannot be ruled out by the might of Mind, and in this way you can prevent the development of pain in the body. No law of God hinders this result” (p. 391).

Having made the firm decision to rely completely on God for healing, and with the confidence inspired by my own past healings and the words from Science and Health to support me, I called a Christian Science practitioner to pray with me. Her loving willingness to help was a great comfort. For the rest of the afternoon, I sat quietly reading Science and Health and keeping my thought as close to God as possible. Despite the discomfort, there was peace in learning more about God from my reading.

By late in the evening, however, the pain was so intense that I could not sleep, and it was hard not to be afraid that something was seriously wrong. I texted the practitioner, hoping she was still awake, and asked her to pray again for me. Immediately, I got a text back saying she would be happy to pray.

Once again, her kindness calmed my fears. I got into bed and listened to a podcast on JSH-Online.com in which several people related healings. One of the healings was of an abscessed tooth. The speaker mentioned asking God what she needed to know, and the thought that came so clearly to her was, “God is closer to me than the pain.” I clung to that thought, feeling that even if I could not sleep, I could nonetheless feel close to God.

The next thing I knew, it was morning, and I was so much more comfortable that I was surprised. I called the practitioner to share the happy news with her, and she said, “I think we need to learn to be less surprised and more grateful.”

Although I was more grateful than I could express, there was still a tender lump on my gum that I knew needed to go, so more prayer was in order. I knew I had to stop checking in with my body for confirmation of healing. A sentence that I love from Science and Health stayed with me: “A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive” (p. 463). I reminded myself repeatedly that I am a spiritual idea of God, divine Mind, and therefore include no element of error—no element of anything ungodlike. I kept listening to what my all-loving Father-Mother God was telling me about my identity—and everyone else’s—as His complete, joyful, pain-free child. 

Within a week, the healing was complete, without any sign that there had ever been a problem. That was almost a year ago, and there has been no return of the condition.

Emma Leslie
Cambridge, Massachusetts, US