I HAVE now been in Christian Science for something over five years, and most of that time have been active in the church work. I came to it a broken-down man, overcome by the cares of business and the burdens of disease. I sought the help of a practitioner solely for physical relief, with a very slight understanding or appreciation of what Christian Science is or the extent of its power for good. I applied for help in a state of hopelessness, mentally, and with only enough faith in it to give it a trial. I was suffering from a disease of the stomach of many years' standing, which during the previous year had taken on an acute form, giving me great and constant pain and headache day and night, and causing extreme nervousness. I had lost thirty pounds in flesh within the year, and strength correspondingly, until I was almost incapacitated for business. I had sought relief of many doctors of various schools, but with no better result than temporary surcease from pain, and generally not even that. I thought myself to be in desperate straits.
Christian Science gave me almost, if not quite, immediate relief. It relieved my mental condition, eased the pain and suffering, and filled me with hope. My healing was slow. I came up out of the depths of disease, suffering, and despair into the blessed sense of health, hope, and peace, much as I had gone down, steadily but surely. It was four months, or thereabouts, before I was able to say I was healed, and about a year before I fully regained the flesh and strength I had lost. But I have always congratulated myself that my healing was slow. It gave me the opportunity I so much needed, and the incentive to study Christian Science, which I did earnestly, eagerly. It possessed my mind with a better, a higher understanding of God and His goodness, and filled me with a sense of trust in Him that was genuine and sincere; it relieved me, in a great measure, of the burdens of fear, distrust, doubt, and worry that had oppressed me.
In addition to the one trouble about which I was most concerned, I had others of less moment. As the result of a severe attack of lung trouble, nearly thirty years before, there was supposed to be an adhesion; and I had frequent colds, which caused me much pain in my side, as a result of this condition. After coming into Christian Science I rarely had a cold, and for the last three years or more I have had none at all, and the pain in the side from which I suffered so much has entirely disappeared, greatly to my relief. In my business Christian Science has done much for me in the way of relieving me from its worries and distractions, thus making my burden much lighter.
In many other ways has this great truth relieved me of mental worry and distress. The understanding that God is an ever-present help in all times of trouble, and that in Him is the power to heal us of our diseases, together with the knowledge of the unreality of evil that I have derived from the study of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, has relieved me from the fear and apprehension that before hung over me like a nightmare. These blessings have come to me through the teachings of our beloved Leader, Mrs. Eddy, who is entitled to my gratitude and love, which are freely accorded her. The hope, the peace and comfort she has brought into my life can neither be estimated nor repaid.
At the time I commenced the study of Christian Science I was, and had been for several years, a member of an orthodox church, and was a member, and president, of its board of directors. When I became convinced, as I did very soon, of the truth of Christian Science, I resigned my offices in the old church and withdrew my membership, as did my wife, and we united with Second Church of Christ, Scientist, of Los Angeles, Cal.
I would have given this testimonial long before now, but for the fact that early in my experience in Christian Science I was called upon to give that experience, under oath, in what is known as the "Los Angeles Case," which has been printed and widely distributed. The testimony then given of course does not cover all the benefits received by me in Christian Science, as many of them have come to me since that time and are being renewed and added to constantly day by day.
Los Angeles, Cal.
