WHILE BRUSHING one of my cats last spring, I noticed a lump on her side. I prayed about the growth by affirming that Dina's life is in Spirit, God, and that she is a spiritual idea, constituted of spiritual qualities. I knew these qualities—the actual substance of her nature—could not be diseased in any sense because they're derived from God, and I prayed along these lines for a couple of weeks. Dina showed no signs of pain or discomfort, but after there hadn't been much improvement in her appearance, I decided to take her to a veterinarian for an examination. The vet informed me that the growth was a cancerous tumor requiring surgery and extensive medical treatments. She outlined continuing procedures, but I thanked her and returned home.
I knew I could pray about this condition because Mary Baker Eddy is emphatic that tumors can be treated through Christian Science. On page 180 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures she stated, "To reduce inflammation, dissolve a tumor, or cure organic disease, I have found divine Truth more potent than all lower remedies. And why not, since Mind, God, is the source and condition of all existence?" In another passage she referred to tumors as "... waking dream-shadows, dark images of mortal thought, which flee before the light of Truth" (p. 418). I was confident that relying on God for healing would be more potent than medical science.
This thought enabled me to put fear aside and trust that Dina, as a precious idea of God, could not be separated from His love and protection. I held to the fact that divine Love is infinite, always expressed in healthful, wholesome activity. This passage from Science and Health has been most helpful to me: "A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive" (p. 463).
