An historic achievement

In the great scheme of things, my recent achievement won't even be worthy of a footnote in the annals of history.  But in my own personal history, it amounts to something quite significant.  The fact is that within the past couple of weeks I've realised that, as I approach my 61st birthday, I've finally conquered my fear of dentists!

My memories of childhood visits to the dentist are, thankfully, rather vague.  Having said that, those rather dim memories aren't at all positive.  I do remember having "gas" to knock me out prior to a procedure, and I also remember my mum taking me to a toy shop to buy me a corgi model to compensate for the pain of a dental visit!

For whatever reason, I developed a mainly irrational anxiety about visits to the dentist.  Even in more recent years, when dental procedures have improved considerably, a visit to the dentist would fill me with trepidation.  Just sitting in the dreaded chair, I would feel myself going faint; my temperature would rise and I would lose all strength in my body.  All my efforts to control such a response were to no avail, and I saw no way of overcoming the problem.

 Until, that is, I had a conversation with a fellow church leader who happened to be a former dentist, and he gave me some advice which was in due course to lead me to victory over my fears.  What my friend suggested was this: Think of a story in the Gospels, perhaps one of the accounts of Jesus' ministry, and imagine yourself as one of the characters in the story.  Focus your mind on the story, imagine how you would be feeling and responding as that character as the events unfolded.  If Jesus is part of the story, imagine how you would be responding to him.  In other words, don't focus on the dentist and what is happening to you in the dentist's chair; focus on being part of the story.

The next time I went to the dentist I did exactly as my friend had advised, and the result was remarkable.  I found myself lost in the story, and focussing very much on the character I had chosen and their relationship with Jesus.  Apart from helping me overcome my irrational response to being in the dentist's chair, I have found it to be a helpful method of meditating on a gospel story.

My most recent visit to the dentist was within the past couple of weeks.  I didn't exactly repeat the previous exercise, but I did try to focus my thoughts on God during the visit.  As the half-hour procedure came to an end, the realisation dawned on me that I had finally overcome my fear of dentists.  Visiting the dentist is still not something I would chose to do, but at least I can cope with it.

In this experience lies an important principle.  When you face the big problems in life, don't let fear overcome you, don't focus on the problem, focus on God who is far bigger than any problem.  As Jesus said to his disciples,  'Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.' (John 14:1).  We have a choice to make: our lives can either be dominated by fear or sustained by faith.

One final question: Why do dentists seem to think that when your mouth is numb following an injection, and it is also wide open and full of their instruments, you can still carry on a normal conversation?  (Answers on a postcard?)