My mother had recently been to the dentist, and she was telling me some bad news the dentist had given her. Though she respected my reliance on God alone for healing, she herself usually relied on medical treatment. She did not ask me to treat her through prayer in Christian Science; and I didn't. Nevertheless, I turned my thought to God. I knew that it wasn't ethical to give Christian Science treatment to someone unless he or she asked me. But I knew I could think clearly and correctly and adhere to God and His all-power; and this I did. I was treating my own thought instead of someone else's.
The dentist had informed my mother that the roots of two teeth had deteriorated to the point where the teeth would soon need to be pulled. As she told me this, I thought of the allness of God, the infinite divine Mind. I realized that this Mind is the only real substance, and that it fills all space. It was perfectly clear to me that Mind, the eternal substance of man, Mind's reflection, cannot deteriorate. So, when my mother said, "The dentist told me that at my age it is not possible for the roots of my teeth to be restored," I reassuringly voiced my spiritual conviction to her: "It is possible."
Adherence to Mind's allness is a fundamental standard for Christian Science treatment. It is through consent to this standard that God heals the sick and the sinning.
