With sincere gratitude I desire to testify to the many blessings received by my family and myself through the application of Christian Science, which came to me when I was seventeen years old. At that time I had a bad case of varicose veins in a lower limb, which had troubled me since I was about nine years old. The condition had become so acute and the pain so constant that my parents, who were not Scientists, decided to send me to a city for an operation to remove several veins. After the operation the several incisions did not heal, and the pain and stiffness of the leg were as bad or worse than before. After consulting several doctors and trying other means for about a year with no good effect, my parents were at a loss to know what to do, as I could walk only a short distance, and then only with difficulty and great pain. Besides I had been troubled for years with stomach trouble, heartburn, and backaches. Although a young man I had a picture of myself as being a semi invalid and worthless to humanity.
My father had a sister in Minneapolis who had taken up a new kind of "faith cure," as it was understood in those early days, and I recall my father saying, "Well, if it doesn't do any good, it can do no harm." Shortly thereafter I was sent to my aunt and Christian Science treatment was started. I shall never cease to feel a deep sense of gratitude to that dear aunt and her family for what they did for me. I studied little, but constantly repeated "the scientific statement of being" as found in our textbook on page 468. The healing of varicose blood vessels was slow but gradual. One of the greatest helps during this period was a testimony in a Christian Science Sentinel of a similar healing. At times when I would get discouraged this experience would come to thought and I felt that if one case could be healed, the same power could and would heal me. My healing was permanent.
For over thirty two years Christian Science has been my only physician and has met my every need. My wife was not interested in Christian Science when we were married, but shortly thereafter she had a healing of an old ailment and this Science has been her only physician since that time. Our three children have been reared in Christian Science and it has met their every need, and with two exceptions very quickly. My wife and I have overcome most of their problems, consisting of croup, diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles, chicken pox, and influenza. With two exceptions our children have not been absent from school more than a day on account of sickness, and only a few times was it necessary for them to be out that long.
