Growing up, my family always had a pet dog and I loved animals and enjoyed being around them. When my husband and I started our own family, we had 3 cats and were living in an apartment. However, I developed a severe breathing problem whenever I was near the cats, petted them, or cleaned their litter box. At those times when I was incapacitated, all I could do was struggle for every breath. This made it very challenging to care for our young daughter. Having seen and had many other physical healings by God through Christian Science, I again turned to God for healing. When praying to understand and feel my identity as the child God created, I always found relief but the attacks would continue for several years and limited my interaction with animals.
Over the years, I worked to gain the understanding of my oneness with God that Christ Jesus so clearly showed and demonstrated during his ministry. These prayerful efforts made in response to the attacks, lifted my concept of myself from a person with a material dysfunctional body to a spiritual idea of an all-loving and caring Father-Mother God. I found it easier each time to challenge the physical picture of the material symptoms as my understanding of God as Love became a provable reality for me. A phrase from the Christian Science Hymnal was a source of comfort, inspiration and strength for me: “In atmosphere of Love divine, We live and move and breathe; Though mortal eyes may see it not, Tis sense that would deceive.” (p.145) My efforts were focused on living that atmosphere of Love.
The final healing came when I conquered the fear of these attacks. My sister asked if we could take care of their new puppy for a summer. I knew this would be a loving support to her and her family and knew it was the right thing to do. Since God’s law is always right and right in all things, I knew no harm could come from expressing that love. We truly enjoyed having that dog and I never had any attacks for the entire time he was with us. In addition, we have since had a home filled with two dogs and two cats of our own and I have enjoyed being around horses and other animals with no return of the problem. I am so thankful for the growth in understanding myself as God’s child that this healing developed and it continues to bless me and my family.
JJD
