Our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, tells us in the Manual of The Mother Church (Art. XVII, Sect. 2), "Gratitude and love should abide in every heart each day of all the years." Accordingly, my heart is full to overflowing with gratitude and love for the many blessings that have been showered upon me through the years that I have been a student of Christian Science. I want to share some of these blessings, trusting they will be of some help to others.
Christian Science came into my life many years ago when I was a young girl, but as the years passed I wandered from its teachings. Eventually I married a doctor, and while I kept my copies of the Bible and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy and read them from time to time, the home atmosphere was not conducive to a serious study of Christian Science.
Twice during a ten-year period I was bedridden for more than a year with a serious heart condition. I was advised that I would be an invalid all my life, and at that time the doctors felt sure it would be a short life.
A dear sister, who had been a consecrated practitioner of Christian Science for many years, came to visit me at this critical period. She refused to look upon me as an invalid or in bondage to any medical law. Soon after her arrival she asked my husband if she might take me to a Wednesday evening testimony meeting at a Christian Science church. My husband unhesitatingly replied, "Anything that will make her well will make me happy."
That Wednesday evening my husband drove us to church. My experience of sitting upright was at first uncomfortable, but gradually I forgot myself in the feast of gratitude and joy being shared. I felt at home and at peace.
During the days following this meeting I studied Christian Science and prayed almost constantly. All symptoms of the heart condition completely disappeared. Migraine headaches, which had kept me in bed for two or three days out of every month, together with frequent colds and backaches, also disappeared. Sleepless nights became a thing of the past, and gallstones, which the doctors had said would need to be removed by surgery, ceased to trouble me. Most of these healings took place without any specific Christian Science treatments. By constant study of the Bible and of Science and Health, especially the chapter on Prayer, I learned the truth regarding God and man as His perfect reflection.
Much of this study was done in a Christian Science Reading Room, where I went daily for well over a year. I will always be grateful for our dear Leader's provision of the Reading Rooms, which have proved a refuge from the storms of mortal mind, a sanctuary where all may go and share a feeling of safety and security.
About a year after my healing of heart trouble, my husband made a request that I have a physical checkup. I was leading a very active, normal, and joyous life, but he had been so co-operative and loving that I agreed to do as he asked.
As I was going up the elevator to the doctor's office, these truths from Science and Health were with me: "Every function of the real man is governed by the divine Mind" (p. 151), and, "Belief produces the results of belief, and the penalties it affixes last so long as the belief and are inseparable from it" (p. 184). With these thoughts and others firm in my mind, I said to the doctor, "Doctor, today you are going to give me a good report."
He looked at me quizzically and said, "We will see." After completing the examination he said with the strangest look, "Do you know, I believe you are right." He was further surprised when I said that I had taken no medication for a year and had rejected the diet which had been prescribed. He reported that my heart was normal.
I am so very grateful that through the unfoldment of Truth in my consciousness my thoughts changed from those of superiority, selfishness, impatience, and criticism to thoughts of love, selflessness, compassion, truthfulness, and above all, humility. I know that the change of thought has resulted in many unforeseen blessings, as well as in numerous healings.
Words are inadequate to describe my love for God, our Father-Mother, for Christ Jesus, our Way-shower, and for Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. I am also deeply grateful for class instruction, for membership in The Mother Church and a branch church, and for the privilege of teaching in the Sunday School and taking part in other church activities. This work in God's vineyard brought me a beautiful healing of a feeling of loss at the passing of my husband. In the words of the Psalmist I pray (Ps. 19:14), "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer."— Los Angeles, California.
