Although mature in dog years, my chocolate-colored Labrador retriever, Casey, has always been quite active and healthy. He loves to run and swim, and has five other dogs as full-time companions. One evening last November I went out to take care of feeding duties, and I found Casey out in the dark, barely able to get up and walk. I led him toward the house, but he soon gave up and could go no farther. So I picked him up and gently carried him inside. He seemed frightened.
I found myself becoming quite frightened too, and began to suspect that he was showing signs of dying. He would not lift his head or even look into my eyes. From the time I found him in this condition, I had been making an effort to think of him as God knows him—as a perfect, eternal idea of God’s creation, and not as a sick, mortal dog. But I found myself so overtaken with emotion that it was difficult to think or pray clearly, so I decided to call for the prayerful support of a Christian Science practitioner.
In Christian Science we learn that God’s kingdom is ever present, and in this kingdom of heaven, all is well. The appearance of inharmony we understand to be nothing but a negation of the truth of God’s omnipotence. As a Christian Scientist, I knew that by becoming spiritually attuned to the perfection of God’s creating through consecrated prayer, I would see evidence of this perfect spiritual reality.
