On the 28th of last November I had nineteen teeth pulled without any pain, and having only a beautiful sense of God's loving presence.
The day before, I went to see a dear Christian Science friend; I told her what was before me, and also that the only thing I feared was that I might faint. (This was an old error that used to trouble me a good deal before coming into Christian Science.). She answered me with a verse of one of our beautiful, helpful hymns:—
Faint not nor fear,
His arms are near,
He changeth not, and thou art dear:
Rely on Him, and thou shalt see
That Christ is all in all to thee.
This seemed to take away every particle of fear.
When the dentist had examined my mouth, he told me there were nineteen teeth to pull, including some roots. I told him he could begin to pull them. He seemed surprised and asked me what he should give me. I told him I did not want to take anything. The thought of this he evidently did not like, and he seemed rather nervous, for when he took the first tooth it broke off, but I saw that God ruled him as well as me, and in divine Love, which was all around us, there was no nervousness to be found. After that, he pulled ten teeth without stopping. When he began, I closed my eyes, and the verse in Isaiah, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee," came to me, and it was only a feeling of perfect peace that I felt.
When the ten teeth were pulled, the dentist asked me if that had not made me feel sick. I said, no. "Well" he said, "you have grit! I would not have that done to me for a thousand dollars. You have more nerve than I have." Next he extracted the roots of the first tooth which had broken, and he seemed to expect them to come rather hard, for he told me they had grown crooked. They came very easily, which seemed to surprise the dentist, for he made the remark, that they came more easily than he thought they would. After that he took out the remaining eight teeth. Then I told him what had been my help, that it was not my grit or nerve, but Christian Science that had helped me. "What is that?" he asked, and I told him that it was the understanding that God was ever-present and all-powerful, that He was a present help in every time of need. He seemed very much impressed and wanted to know more about it, and he is now reading "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."— Pasadena, Cal.
