DEEP significance attaches to the announcement heard in Christian Science churches at every Wednesday evening meeting: "This meeting is now open for 'experiences, testimonies, and remarks on Christian Science'" (see Church Manual, p. 122). What a wealth of meaning is embraced in this simple announcement! It anticipates the forthcoming expressions of praise and gratitude for blessings received and shared through Christian Science. It also lovingly directs attention to the important fact that the spiritual experience of our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, which gave Christian Science to the world, must be continually attested by loyal witnesses to the healing power of the truth and to the universal character of the salvation envisaged by The Mother Church organization.
Here, then, is opened an opportunity for the play of wellsprings of gratitude, public avowals, and heartfelt thanks for God's precious gift of spiritual healing. Surely nothing short of spontaneity and responsiveness could supply so gracious a demand.
In both the Hebrew of the Old Testament and the Greek of the New Testament, the words rendered "testimony" are derived from root words meaning to bear witness, to testify. A witness is not merely one who testifies through speech. The life of every active Christian Scientist witnesses to the completeness and availability of God's provision for man. But declaration and affirmation have been by common practice so associated with the giving of testimony that the written or spoken word has come generally to fulfill the conditions of testimony. To be a witness to the fact that Christian Science heals, presupposes accurate knowledge; to testify connotes participation. One cannot intelligently participate in an action without being a witness to it. Hence, a Christian Scientist stands a witness to the truth only to the degree that he practices it.
