A healing for Wrigley
When her dog suddenly became incapacitated, today’s contributor turned to God with her whole heart. What followed was a tangible sense of the all-encompassing goodness God expresses in His creation, and the dog was completely healed.
Our family raises guiding-eye puppies for an organization in our region. Last year our very first puppy, Wrigley, was retired from service and returned to us. We were thrilled to have him back!
But shortly after he came home, he woke one morning and could not use his hind legs. We were told that this condition was related to why he had been retired and that episodes such as this would not last long each time. But the condition did not improve, and the next day he became increasingly incapacitated.
I took Wrigley, who was still under the watch of the guiding-eye organization, to the local vet’s office. But as loving and supportive as the vets were, they had no idea what was wrong or how to help him. On the way home, I remember telling Wrigley, through tears, that he had come home to be healed, not to die. And I meant it.
Throughout many life experiences, I had learned that God is indeed “a very present help in trouble” (Psalms 46:1). And I turned to Him now with my whole heart.
I hung on to the idea that God is the sole creator. In the Bible, the book of John tells us, “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (1:3). And not only that, the Scriptures indicate that He made everything “very good” (Genesis 1:31). “Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896” by Mary Baker Eddy further explains: “Immortal Mind is God, immortal good; in whom the Scripture saith ‘we live, and move, and have our being.’ This Mind, then, is not subject to growth, change, or diminution, but is the divine intelligence, or Principle, of all real being...” (pp. 82-83).
What a promise! No matter what picture a physical body may present, the divine Mind – another name for God, immortal good – is in reality holding His entire creation safe, forever. This Mind can’t be diminished, being eternal. And because it has created “all real being,” its creation can’t diminish or deteriorate, either.
I thought about that in regard to Wrigley. God, good, could not create anything unlike His own perfect nature, so as God’s creation, Wrigley had to be spiritual, without blemish, without sickness.
When we turn to God for help, we are led to a higher and better understanding of spiritual reality, which opens the way for healing. This was the case here. As I pondered God’s complete, entirely good, spiritual creation, I felt my thought shift. I turned away from my concern about Wrigley and looked out over the porch railing at the stars in the night sky. I thought of the ways I’d seen evidence of God’s stable, harmonious, and beautiful creation expressed in my neighborhood, the town, the country, the world.
Something inside me said that this was not just about Wrigley. Rather, it was an opportunity to see and acknowledge God, divine Love, as filling all space, knowing all things, possessing all power, and imparting only good throughout His creation. There is no room in this creation for anything unlike God. Infinite Love dispels any possibility of discord.
In that moment I felt nothing but God’s love, holding all in perfect peace. I saw and felt the presence of my – and everyone’s – divine Father-Mother. I glimpsed God’s allness, God’s perfection, God’s completeness, which is expressed throughout His creation.
I clung to that feeling of beauty and wonder, which felt to me like a taste of heaven. I kissed Wrigley on the head and went to bed, completely confident that God was in charge and all were in His care.
The next morning, Wrigley awoke, bounded out of bed, and begged for breakfast – completely free. And he has remained so since then.
My family and I are so grateful. But I am even more grateful for that feeling of being caught up in that moment with God, divine Love, Himself. It was a glimpse that God is the true creator and that all He has made is indeed “very good.”