LAST YEAR, one of my teeth became inflamed and very painful. I went to the dentist and he described the dental work that was needed. We set an appointment for as soon as his schedule would allow, one week later. The dentist said that my tooth would be very painful during that week and wrote out a prescription for a powerful painkiller. I thanked him for his concern and took the prescription, but I did not have it filled. Instead I decided to pray—both to eliminate my fear and to gain freedom from the pain. Other healings I'd had through Christian Science had shown me that this was possible.
When I got home, I called a Christian Science practitioner to pray with me. We talked about how God made man and woman in His own image and likeness, as described in the first chapter of Genesis in the Bible. I understood this meant that God, who is Spirit, had not made me to conform to material laws, or be subject to material conditions. Instead, I had dominion over them, because as His spiritual creation I was subject only to spiritual laws—to the laws of God, good.
Weeks earlier, I had been released from a job because of corporate cutbacks. It was a job that I had truly loved. I was feeling a lot of resentment toward the the situation. As I prayed to see myself better as God's child, I remembered what Jesus told Peter in the book of John "... what is that to thee? follow thou me" (21:22). It became clear that I needed to let go of the anger and resentment I'd been feeling and follow the Christ. And, because God is always good to all of us, I reasoned, not only would my former business be blessed, but I would be, too. (And, as it turned out, I was!) I saw that we can't get away from God's goodness, that we are always at one with our Father-Mother. So that total goodness is always available to us.
