SEVERAL MONTHS AGO I had a toothache. I decided to have my teeth checked over by a dentist. After the examination I was told that I was suffering with a gum infection. Because of this, a tooth would have to be removed. My first thought when I heard the prognosis was that this condition could be healed solely through spiritual means, and this was how I wanted to handle it. I realized that it was time for me to turn wholeheartedly to God for healing.
I immediately began praying for myself as I have learned to do from Mary Baker Eddy's book Science and Health. I realized that God is the only creator. He made me in His image. This means that because God is Spirit, I am spiritual. Because God is perfect, I am perfect. I also knew that God loved me. That He is always caring for me. That right there and then He was keeping me healthy and well. My true, spiritual identity could not become infected and inflamed. As the likeness of divine Spirit, I could only express painless purity.
I opened Science and Health, wanting to pray with the ideas found in the answer to the question "What is man?" Here I read: "Man is spiritual and perfect; and because he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so understood in Christian Science. Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique" (p. 475). This reminded me that my real identity as God's child was already perfect and permanent. God had given me health and well being. I could not be separated from Him or from what He had given me.
