Mrs. Eddy says (Science and Health, p. 79), "Giving does not impoverish us in the service of our Maker, neither does withholding enrich us." Some time ago when the day arrived for me to renew my subscriptions to the Christian Science periodicals, the thought came to me that now was also the opportune time to pay my per capita tax to the branch church of which I am a member and to reimburse a Christian Science practitioner for loving services rendered. The total amount of these three items would seem trivial to some, but to me it meant drawing every penny I had from the bank.
Just before I carried out my resolve, however, an invitation came to share the pleasure and the expense of a four-day vacation trip. As I had not had a vacation of more than a day or two at a time for some years, the prospect was most attractive. I asked for time in which to make a decision, and I wrestled mightily with the temptation to postpone the other obligations. Nevertheless, in a day or so I dispatched three checks in payment of the items mentioned above and telephoned my friends that I would be unable to accompany them on their trip.
Some time later I began to meditate on the words from Science and Health at the beginning of this testimony, and I declared: "Even now, if it is right for me to go, nothing can keep me from going. Certainly, giving to God will not deprive me of any good thing." The telephone rang at this point, and somehow I knew it was an answer to my prayer. One of my friends very kindly said that she and her companion wanted me to have the trip and that the two of them would assume the entire auto-mobile expense. A gift from another source helped meet other expenses.
