It affords me joy to express deep gratitude for the many healings I have experienced through the study and application of Christian Science.
I distinctly recall my first healing, which occurred about thirty years ago. I was a young boy, suffering from a dislocated jaw which was attended by much pain and discomfort. My mother, who had become interested in Christian Science shortly before, assured me that this condition could be worked out quickly through Christian Science treatment. I consented to try it, and twenty-four hours later, with the help of a loving practitioner, the pain had disappeared, and in two days the healing was complete.
After years of laboring under the belief that eyeglasses were indispensable to her, my mother was able to discard them through the understanding that God did not make man imperfect; that she was the child of God; hence, her sight was spiritual, not material.
My father was instantaneously healed of the use of alcohol, to which he had been addicted for many years. This healing took place in the office of a Christian Science practitioner to whom he had gone for the first time. This experience gave full proof that the rules of divine Principle, when spiritually understood and obeyed, restore harmony, stability, and serenity.
Subsequent to my return from France, where I had served with the American Army during the World War, I drifted away from Christian Science into the illusory beliefs of pleasure in matter. However, when I had financial reverses, accompanied by the loss of business, home, and many material comforts, I began to realize how essential Christian Science is to my well-being. One day I was reminded of Mrs. Eddy's statement on page 5 of Science and Health: "Sorrow for wrong-doing is but one step towards reform and the very easiest step. The next and great step required by wisdom is the test of our sincerity,—namely, reformation." I perceived that reformation involved exchanging material beliefs for spiritual ideas, and that these ideas must be understood, appreciated, and utilized; that the real man can never be separated from his Father-Mother God; therefore, he is sinless, pure, and free. As I became conscious of these truths in their spiritual significance, I realized that I no longer had the desire for alcohol, and that the appetite for tobacco in all its forms had also vanished from my thought.
At this period of my development a physical healing was accomplished for which I am also grateful. A machine gun bullet which I had received during the war several years before, began to make its way out through the calf of my leg. For some days an unpleasant condition existed and the bullet made little headway. The suggestions of pain and the fear of infection had to be effaced from thought, and one evening when this situation seemed particularly acute, the beautiful words of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of John came to me, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Almost at once my consciousness became illumined and permeated with a sense of peace, and I comprehended in a small way that there is but one infinite, omnipotent Mind, of whom man is the full and complete expression; that matter and mortal mind exist solely as illusion; and that the real man can reflect only health, activity, and peace. I retired that night feeling greatly uplifted. In the morning I awoke to find that the bullet had made its exit. No complications ensued, and in two or three days the leg was entirely healed. I am grateful to state that during this experience I was able to attend to my business.
For these, which are but a few of the healings which Christian Science has brought into my life, and for those which I have witnessed in my family, I am profoundly grateful. For the great inspiration and unfoldment gained from class instruction, the joy and peace which have come through membership in The Mother Church and in a branch church, and for the rare privilege of reading in a branch church, I am grateful beyond expression. To our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, who through divine inspiration and wisdom established each and every activity of the Christian Science movement, and who through her beautiful writings has brought a richer sense of Life, Truth, and Love to mankind, I am inexpressibly grateful.— Lake Forest, Illinois.
I am happy to corroborate the testimony written by my husband, and should like to express my gratitude for the peace and harmony maintained in our home through the practice of Christian Science. I am especially grateful for my understanding of this Science in the handling of fear in the problems that arise occasionally with our children. Also I am grateful for membership in The Mother Church and in a branch church.—
