"Rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself" (Hab. 3:16). This is how I felt about my teeth. Yet I resisted a trip to the dentist. As a new member of a Christian Science branch church, I had united with a church "designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing" (Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy, p. 17). I took this as a serious commitment. I thought I should prove that prayer could heal my teeth.

The more I tried to change bad matter into good matter, the worse it became—it was disturbing that pieces of my teeth were actually breaking off. I'd had many visits to dentists in previous years, but still felt it would now represent failure if I were to resort to other means besides prayer.

Perhaps what I really needed to heal was the stubbornness of human will about not taking this practical step. Jesus said, "Not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). Also, I had to learn that Christian Science is not primarily a health-care system. (This is why I had prayed ineffectively—I had been trying merely to change bad teeth to good teeth.)

Now I prayed, "Father, what do I do next?" The idea came to make a dental appointment, which I did immediately. At the dental office, X-rays confirmed my worst fears, and the total corrective work was estimated to cost thousands of dollars. Without a regular job, how would I pay for this?

I continued to pray. Then I had a definite shift in my point of view. I no longer saw this as a problem of bad teeth, but rather as an opportunity to trust God more deeply; an opportunity to heal lifelong fears connected with dental visits.

As I prayed before the next scheduled visit, I recognized that I had already seen love, ethics, and professionalism expressed by the dentist and his staff. There had been no accusations of neglect or carelessness on my part. Whatever needed to be done mechanically, I realized that the dentist did not need to and could not drill through, extract, or fill in my true substance, which was spiritual. Man is God's good idea; no human action could harm me. I felt a deep thankfulness and peace for these healing insights.

The next afternoon, much to my surprise, I received a phone call from an unexpected source, informing me I would be receiving a check for a large amount of money. I was most surprised, and extremely grateful for divine Love's abundance; as stated in Science and Health, "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need" (p. 494).

In preparation for the first in a series of dental appointments, I knew that I should keep praying. Yet I found my thoughts drifting to a concern greater than my teeth. The entire midwestern United States had been suffering from a drought. My neighbors and friends had scorched yards; flowers, plants, and shrubs were brown and withered from the sun. I had arrived for a visit in one place, to be greeted by the newspaper headline "Dust Bowl of the Summer of 1988." I thought of family members who had been farmers, of friends and relatives who still had farms, and of how I loved the people, communities, and way of life in this part of the country. When I had taken one lady friend home to her farm, I'd emerged from her dusty country road and gotten on the superhighway feeling as though I'd driven through a flour sifter—my car was covered with dust. All her crops were dying, and she had pointed out acres of brown corn.

This was a shock to me, so I really prayed with all my heart. I knew that Christian Science could heal this condition. I prayed as consistently as I could for hours and hours, being grateful for God's omnipresent love. Science and Health states: "Are we really grateful for the good already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more" (p. 3). I persisted in this prayer. And I recalled that Science and Health also says that divine Love is the "father of the rain" (p. 257). I knew that was the truth, and was grateful for this reality.

It began to rain! The rains continued. More rain. A newspaper headline stated that the rain was not enough to help. "Prayerful ingratitude"? "Prayerful ingratitude" ... this powerful thought I recalled from a margin note in the chapter "Prayer" in Science and Health (p. 3).

Prayerful ingratitude? Prayer? Gratitude? Was I having a "dry spell"? A drought? A lack of gratitude? Slowly and then in rapid succession, ideas of gratitude came ... Gratitude! Love! Gratitude for Love! Gratitude for God's Love! Prayer? God was teaching me how to pray! More rain came ... it stormed! A news commentator announced that "the cycle had broken."

Early that morning while I was reading from the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons, a Bible verse (Eph. 3:17) caught my attention: "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love ...." Instantly, I felt something like tiny grains of sand shifting in my tooth and jaw area. Once again, I began to feel the peacefulness of and gratitude for the ever-presence of Love, which I saw as blessing the people and relieving them of this barren condition. I remembered that since God's infinite Love was all-embracing, it included me!

Later that morning the dentist examined my teeth and the X-rays prior to starting root canal work that had been scheduled for that visit. But the need for root canal work no longer existed; although it was there in the X-ray, it was no longer evident in my mouth. I recalled the sand-grain feeling. My dental bill was reduced drastically because some of the work now did not need to be done. A gum condition that I had feared had also disappeared.

The dentist remarked that we really had developed a special relationship. I felt it was divine Love that had cemented the relationship, closed the gap, and even enabled me to pay the bill! I continue to be blessed by this healing.

Nancy Gayle Nichols
Carmel, Indiana