Testimony of Healing November 2, 2009 Issue

HEALED OF DOG BITE

LAUREL SMITH

About a year ago, I was standing in a veterinary office waiting to pay a bill. Suddenly, a young dog in the office jumped at me and bit my hand, leaving multiple deep gashes. The young man holding the dog's leash pulled him back and was very frightened, wanting to make sure I was all right.

Onlookers looked stunned as the office manager quickly took me into the lab, where the staff cleaned and bandaged my wounds. The owners of the veterinary clinic insisted it was important that I go to the hospital to have my hand examined and treated with stitches. They even offered to pay for the resulting bills. I thanked the veterinarians sincerely and assured them that I would be sure the wounds were cared for. Throughout the cleaning, I don't remember ever feeling pain, and there was no ointment or medical treatment applied to the wound.

At this point I began to pray. I am an animal lover and have bred and showed dogs for years, so I felt strongly that the dog that bit me was not at fault. I very much felt that I needed to express only love for all concerned, including the dog. Harmony, I reasoned, was a divine law that, as explained in Christian Science, was always operating. Attack and suffering could never originate in this law. I thought of God's love for all His creatures and began to give thanks that their true nature is loving, not aggressive. One thought that occurred to me was this statement in Science and Health: "All of God's creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible" (p. 514). I love the idea that one spiritual idea in the creation of God, who is Mind, cannot harm another. The dog and I were both creations of God and as such, innocent and protected.

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