London.
THE Christian Science church building in Bryanston Street having become too small for the rapidly increasing audience, temporary accommodation has been secured in Steinway Hall, Lower Seymour Street, for the Wednesday evening testimony meetings, the first of which was held there on November 12. Despite the increased size of the hall, it was quickly filled, and it was calculated by the attendants that one to two hundred people were unable to enter. After the opening exercises the First Reader, Mr. W. N. Miller, spoke as follows:—
"As these Wednesday evening meetings are for the public, there must be many present who know little or nothing of Christian Science, some perhaps who are hearing about it for the first time. To those I wish to explain what Christian Science is, to tell them that it is the Science of Christianity, the light of Truth that reveals God as perfect Good and man as His image and likeness. It is the religion that Jesus taught and practised. It is the Science that enabled Jesus to live an unselfish life and to perform what the world has called his miracles from an understood Principle. It is a religion to be lived, and has been adapted, through revelation, to the needs of man to-day, just as it was, through the mind that was in Christ Jesus, to those who lived two thousand years ago.
"For hundreds and thousands of years, as far back as history reaches, man, born in the flesh, has been suffering the penalties for wrong doing caused by wrong thinking. No one has really enjoyed this state of things. Many have looked forward to death as a friend to release them from it, forgetting or disregarding the statement of Paul that death is an enemy to be overcome, not a friend to be embraced. Some, regarding their environment and seeing that they manifest perpetual misrule, poverty, injustice, malice, discord of every kind, sin, sickness, and death, and believing God to be all-knowing as well as all-powerful and ever-present, have attributed this condition of affairs to Him, thereby making God a God of evil as well as a God of good. The misconception of God has always stood in the way of obtaining the right conception of God and man and of realizing the truth of Being. Christian Science, the revelation to this age, solves the whole mystery. Christian Science, which is the Science of Christianity understood and applied, shows that the wonders performed in the name of Christ were not only so performed, but were done in pursuance of the understood Principle, which is the allness of God as Good, and Good alone. As this allness of God is admitted, the understanding of the reality is obtained, and clear, definite, and unassailable conclusions are reached as to God and man and the government of the universe. Christian Science understood, proves itself, for the understanding always results in the healing of both mind and body and the destruction of sin."
The meeting was then declared open for testimonies, and the first speaker gave the following testimony:—
"I purpose giving some of my experiences in Christian Science, not because they are exceptional but just because they are commonplace, and therefore will. I hope, be a help to some stranger here to-night. Before I heard of Christian Science, I had been for sixteen years an agnostic, because what was offered to me in the so-called orthodox religions failed to satisfy me. Neither indeed could I reconcile their teachings with reason or logic. I was first attracted to Christian Science by a somewhat remarkable case of healing. I began to investigate. I went under treatment and was healed in a few weeks of two troubles, one being break down from protracted and hard brain work, and the other a ruptured muscle, sustained some years before when schooling a horse for a steeple-chase. Since receiving this injury, I had not been able to ride across country without a tight bandage to support the injured muscle, and even then I frequently suffered severe pain. This was healed, and after a few weeks' treatment, I was able to ride without a bandage, and have since felt no trouble from the leg. I was also restored to complete health as to the brain trouble.
"Now as regards the study of the text-book Science and Health. When beginning, I found much to criticise and did not make much progress in understanding the book. Fortunately one day I came to see that I was foolishly attempting an impossibility in trying to make that book agree with my preconceived ideas. Either my ideas or that book had to go. I am glad to say my ideas went, and I can honestly say that in six months' time, I had erased all my marginal notes previously written on nearly every page, and I now thank God daily for all that I am obtaining from that book."
The next speaker said:—
"The best testimony of personal healing is to have no testimony to give. When I first became a student of Christian Science I had many testimonies of physical healing to give, but as time has gone on, I am glad to say I have had fewer and fewer. Quite recently I have been reminded of an old ailment which had never troubled me since I became a student of Christian Science, and so had never been destroyed in my consciousness. Many years ago I suffered from an eye trouble which was so violent that one of the leading oculists in London ordered me to give up using my eyes for a prolonged period, and then never to strain them in any way. The advice was effective for the time being, but up to the time when I became a Christian Scientist the attacks returned with increasing frequency. From that time they disappeared, until recently they were suddenly renewed. One evening I came home with a violent attack of influenza and with the old pain in the eye. I was, for the time being, so ill that I was just able to accept my wife's offer of help and seemed to become insensible. When I regained consciousness, I was perfectly healed. This ought to have warned me to complete my own work, but as I was extremely busy I allowed the matter to slide. A little while afterwards I awoke one morning with my eye causing me the greatest pain. It was so bad that when I got to my office it seemed absolutely impossible to do any work. The first letter I tried to write, the pain was so violent that I put down my pen and leaned back in my chair, and as I did so, I remembered that years before in that very place I had been compelled to give up doing any work by this very complaint and to go away and rest for weeks. But a great deal had passed in those years; I had myself become a Christian Scientist. Picking up my pen, I went on with my letters as best I could, repeating to myself as I did so the paragraph on page 495 of Science and Health, beginning, 'When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea.' I wrote, I suppose, between fifty and sixty letters that day, and though the struggle was pretty hard at times, when I went home that night the pain had been absolutely mastered, and I knew that I was permanently well.
"It is healing such as this that I saw described to-day as blasphemous, but every Christian Scientist knows that healing is accomplished by the struggle to overcome sin and materiality in self, and it is the healing that we are learning every day from, those most helpful of all books, the Bible and Science and Health."
Another speaker was a lady, who rose to read a long and most interesting letter from Denmark, telling of some wonderful healing and the rapid progress of Christian Science work in Soro, Denmark. The writer of the letter said she had heard of Christian Science in England in March, 1901, through reading articles in the Daily Mail. A year later,— March, 1902,— she visited the services and reading rooms at Bryanston Street, and had an interview with the First Reader, which resulted in her obtaining a copy of Science and Health and beginning the study of Christian Science. To quote from the letter: "From the beginning of May I have been back in Denmark, and have had constant opportunity of seeing how much even a small understanding of Truth has been able to accomplish. In June, a young man was dying in the hospital with inflammation of the lungs contracted after meningitis. I treated him, and as his father told me afterwards, the very same night a change occurred in his condition. 'We cannot account for it,' the doctor said the next morning, 'but he is practically out of danger now, the fever has gone down.' From that moment he improved steadily, but was still weak, till I explained Christian Science to him. He took treatment a short time, and is now in perfect health, and beginning to study." The writer went on to tell of the healing of a peasant suffering with tuberculosis of the lungs, and given up to die by the doctors; also of an aged woman who was suffering intense internal pain, healed during a conversation in which her mind was illumined with the understanding of God's love for her. She has since been well and happier, too. The letter relates other cases, and says, "We look forward with confidence to the accomplishment of great works wrought by omnipotent Love on the virgin soil of Denmark."
Another lady spoke as follows:—
"Often people interested in Christian Science complain of their unfavorable surroundings, feeling sure if only they lived near London or with Scientists they would make better progress. Now, we know that where there is an honest desire to gain an understanding of Christian Science, nothing can prevent it." She went on to read a letter from a lady in Rhodesia, South Africa, who had gone away, having only just heard of Christian Science and had one or two conversations on the subject, but she was so convinced of the Truth that she determined to study Science and Health and do her best to prove it. She is quite cut off from other Christian Scientists, but is having many demonstrations. She writes of a lady who had been suffering all her life with a bad eye, who recovered after a few days' treatment, also of the healing of a child. This speaker also told of the healing of sin. A woman who was being treated was studying our text-book, and her husband, who was a drunkard, also read it; and in ten days all desire for drink left him and he is a reformed man now.
The next speaker said:—
"It seems to me, that to those of us to whom Christian Science means so much, this must be a special night of thanksgiving that God has so blessed the work of those who have been trying to follow in the footsteps of the Master that we have been led from very small beginnings till our number has so increased that we have had to move into larger quarters; and I feel to-night that I must express my gratitude audibly for what Christian Science has done for me. I have often tried to tell of the number of physical ailments it has helped me to overcome; but far more important than that, it has given me the desire to overcome my faults, and shown me how to do so. It has shown me that all discord arises from wrong thinking, and that if our thoughts are right our actions will be right also.
"Now there may be some here to-night who know really very little about Christian Science and wonder why we should be so happy and grateful, and I should like to tell them, that it has done for us what nothing else in the world can do; it lifts us right above cares, anxieties, and unrest, and shows us a practical way of overcoming them. It gives us new ideas of life, and shows us humanity, not in the way we have been accustomed to regard it, but to say in the words of one of our hymns, 'Man is the noblest work of God'
"The knowledge that Christian Science has brought us is this, that man is perfect now, even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and our work is to destroy the false beliefs that hide the perfect creation of the only Creator God. Words seem poor in which to express our gratitude towards our beloved Leader, who through a life of unceasing work, selflessness, and faithfulness has given us this wonderful revelation; but we know that every step onward in the overcoming of all that is unlike God, brings her real joy; and from our hearts to-night, from her students here who have proved over and over again the truth of her teachings, such thoughts of love go out as will reach her who has given up all for the love of God and humanity."—
Berlin.
Thanksgiving is approaching in America,— the great holiday of the great nation. It has been my pleasure and privilege twelve times to celebrate that day with my friends on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, but never have I felt so like pouring out my heart in gratitude as I feel this time, though I am far away and seemingly separated from all the dear ones and no one near to celebrate the day with me.
Why do I speak of gratitude? Because for many, many years I had been a suffering woman. Nervous headache, neuralgia, and other troubles had made my life hard; later on, heart, kidney, and stomach trouble almost made it a burden. Even later I had to undergo an internal operation, the after-effects of which made me grow worse. Several physicians in America and in Germany had told me again and again that I must give up teaching and live very quietly for at least two years. That I could not and would not do. So I tried everything in the line of medicine that was suggested; tried bathing, hot and cold water cure, electricity, massage, etc., but everything failed.
When I was near despair, Christian Science was recommended, but I objected at first, because I had had sad experiences with some people who pretended to be good Christians, but were really wolves in sheeps' clothing. Finally I arranged to be treated for nervous prostration. Within eight weeks after that I was able to begin teaching again. My healing was very slow at first, and I can see how wonderfully patient the practitioner was with me. I am sure I made it very hard for her, as my mental condition was far worse than my bodily ailments. Pride of intellect and will-power had to be overcome, the big self had to go down before the blessings of Christian Science could come to me. Humility and meekness, the very essence of Christian character, were lost from my vocabulary entirely; yes, I had always felt a strong sense of irritation whenever they were mentioned. It was only by small degrees that the battle over self was won. I cannot be too grateful for the kind, patient help which has been given me at all times. One after another the troubles disappeared from the body as growth in the understanding of Christian Science came to me, through studying our text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker G. Eddy.
Now since I am called upon to prove for others the healing and saving power of divine Love according to the rules in our text-book, my gratitude increases every day, and I wish to give expression to it in the form of a testimony.
I feel as if every breath must be a prayer of thanksgiving for all the blessings that have come to me through Christian Science, and many loving, grateful thoughts fly across the great ocean to our dearly beloved Leader, who against a whole world of opposition has established the great cause of Christian Science, and through her wise Leadership has made its wonderful progress possible.
Perhaps a few demonstrations which have come to me would interest the Field.
A lady had been sent to me who came from the Baltic Coast. She had been suffering from a double rupture, and nervous, heart, liver, and stomach troubles for thirty seven years. She has been under treatment two months and left a few days ago for her home, the happiest woman I ever saw. For over seven years she had been sitting in a chair waiting for death to deliver her from her suffering.
A young business man, afflicted with eye trouble which caused great suffering at times, was healed in three treatments. A few more treatments destroyed a pain which was said by the doctor to be the foreboding of cancer inherited from his father, who died a few years ago. I could tell of many more beautiful demonstrations, but must not take up more space. I wish only to add that I had crossed the ocean five times and had been seasick from the first hour almost to the last, while the last time, with Christian Science, I was well all the ten days of the voyage and enjoyed my trip very much.
But it is not only for the physical healing that Christian Science should be praised,— far more for what it does in uplifting humanity morally and spiritually.
Paris.
It would take more space in the Journal than the kind editor could permit, for me to tell a small part of what Christian Science has done for me. I am one of those of whom it was said, "They came from the graveyard.' Christian Science was resorted to as a last hope. I was entirely without faith or understanding, given up by physicians in both the North and South. The trouble was bronchitis, which extended to the bottom of both lungs. I applied for treatment to one of the Mother's faithful workers in Denver, Col. Despite my great fear, the healing came very quickly. Three weeks saw me lifted into joy, strength, and a strange eagerness to know how it was done, and to be able to heal in like manner. The thought that came to me most often was, "I have felt the living, palpitating presence of God."
I was very slow to realize that the adversary goeth about seeking whom he may devour, even after I had been most conscientiously taught by my faithful practitioner. Typhoid fever, and later, nervous prostration, both in aggravated forms, had to be met and conquered scientifically. I am now well and strong, and with my family have been so blessed by infinite Love and Truth that every day brings a sense of gratitude. My appreciation of the love and patience of my teacher increases continually, as I try to follow her example and cast evils out of others. My respect and admiration for our dear Mother, her beautiful life, and the vastness of her work grow constantly, and I am overwhelmed by the sense of God's love to us. Truly the goodness of God causeth me to repent.
It has been my great privilege to attend the Science churches in London and Paris for the past four months. The old Jewish Synagogue in which the London service is held is so packed on Sunday mornings that to get out after service seems an impossibility. The joyful greetings and beaming faces characteristic of true Scientists are everywhere, and the atmosphere is so good, and true, and wholesome, that it remains with one the entire day.
What was called "The little church at Richmond" (a London suburb), while it was being organized, leaped into a congregation of seventy-five in less than a month. The visitor feels the presence of that Light which dispels all darkness, and that it has come in power, and with signs following.
In Paris, Christian Science services are read in both English and French in a beautiful assembly room of the Continental Hotel, modeled after a hall at the Palace of Versailles. Here every Sunday morning, at the English service, Scientists meet from all over the world, and listen to the reading of the lessons, which seem ever to lead the student to diviner heights. Each one is like a strong hand extended to meet the individual's most pressing need. There is always a sense of Love in the Paris church, and the sound of the English language makes it most delightful to the traveler. The leaders are zealous workers. Wednesday evening service is exclusively for the French Scientists, and the First Reader is reading Science and Health in French to the congregation. Their faces show intense interest, and as they lean forward to catch every word, they nod and make French exclamations. Often the Reader pauses to explain the beautiful teaching, and her audience drink in her words as the parched ground the dew. Very few know a word of English. Think of their faithfulness, debarred as they are from studying the "little book" for themselves. The helpful Journal and Sentinel are only made known to them through translation. After seeing these eager foreign faces, one must perforce appreciate more fully that saying of our Master, "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."
The individual who gets on in the world most honorably is he who makes a study of his own nature instead of the nature of other people. He will find close at hand both good and bad qualities, and the study of man should be himself.—Selected.
