"I Will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation." So sang the Psalmist in praise and gratitude to God (Ps. 111:1); and again (Ps. 116:14), "I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people."
Our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, also knew the importance of paying one's vows before the congregation. It was she who inaugurated the Wednesday evening testimony meetings in the Christian Science churches, at which members of the congregation have the opportunity to share with others the fruits of their own understanding.
Although the writer had been attending these services many years without giving a testimony, she had cause for gratitude, for Christian Science had brought to her enthusiasm, health, and happiness. Never having been sick a day in her life, thanks to Christian Science, she thought that she had nothing to give to these meetings unless she could tell of some remarkable physical healing. Then, too, she thought that she had no speaking voice, and while in her profession of music she could play without nervousness before any number of people, her voice would utterly fail her if she tried to speak in public.
