It has been my joyous privilege to be reared in Christian Science. I have experienced wonderful protection, guidance, and healing. I'm grateful for the daily awareness of God's tender, loving care, for Christ Jesus' example, and for Mrs. Eddy's Leadership.
One morning while I was serving as librarian in a Christian Science Reading Room, a man came into the Reading Room just as I was opening up for the day. He was not known to me, but he had been in a few times in the preceding three weeks; so when he asked to see the beautiful Subscription Edition of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, which was displayed in a very awkward place, I removed it from the case and put it on the desk.
He asked questions about its publication, and as I went into the study room to refer to William Dana Orcutt's book, "Mary Baker Eddy and Her Books," for the answers, the visitor said he had to put some money in the parking meter and would be right back. As I turned, he went out of the door, and the Science and Health was gone.
I immediately denied the evidence of dishonesty and loss; and after determining that he was nowhere in sight in the street, I notified the appropriate members of the church and also the police. Now, I can see that there was never any acceptance of this situation as anything but an opportunity to see Christian Science heal.
The members of the church who were aware of the incident immediately turned to God in prayer, and during the following weeks many shared with me the spiritual unfoldment that was coming to them. Some of the thoughts that were particularly helpful included the fact that Mrs. Eddy had appointed the Bible and Science and Health as our pastor, and the good that is expressed in these books is always irresistibly active everywhere. (Self-condemnation was, of course, an argument that I had to handle.)
One member mentioned these lines in Science and Health (p. 105): "Whoever uses his developed mental powers like an escaped felon to commit fresh atrocities as opportunity occurs is never safe. God will arrest him." Sometime later she noticed a small item in a newspaper telling of a man who had been apprehended stealing rare books from a library in a neighboring city. We called this to the attention of the local police, and a few days later I was asked to come in to see if I could identify his picture.
The word "identify" caught my attention, and I turned to God to know how to identify man. Mrs. Eddy says in "No and Yes" (p. 11), "Man has perpetual individuality; and God's laws, and their intelligent and harmonious action, constitute his individuality in the Science of Soul." I was working this way on right identification while driving to the Reading Room to open up, aware that I hadn't time to stop by the police station that morning, when the fact came clearly to thought that there was no need to go to the police station to identify man. The book would already be at the Reading Room.
Doubt scoffed at that happy idea; but as I approached the door, a large newspaperwrapped package was visible. The Subscription Edition of Science and Health had been returned, and in perfect condition. This was about six weeks after it was first taken.
When the officer came in a few minutes later bringing the pictures for me to see, he was amazed to hear of the book's safe return and said that consequently no additional identification would be necessary.— Redlands, California.
I am very grateful that my mother found Christian Science when she did. She was healed of tuberculosis through the prayers of a practitioner when someone recommended Science after the doctors had given up her case as incurable. This was before her marriage, and consequently I have always had the privilege of the benefits of Science.
As a young child I was spared all the so-called children's diseases but one—and this was healed very quickly. Also, during the First World War, I was healed of a very severe case of influenza when there seemed to be some doubt whether I would pull through.
While I was growing up, whenever a problem presented itself, our family always called on a practitioner for help, with glorious results. However, not much thought was given to making the effort to do any work of our own. I must confess that I never fully appreciated the value of Science but just took all this good for granted until I reached the age limit in Sunday School.
Then a physical difficulty presented itself in the nature of a skin infection which was slow in yielding to Truth. Suddenly realizing that I needed to do something too and not leave all the work to the practitioner, I began to study more and make an effort to apply the truth for myself. The condition cleared up when I refused to look at it but held continuously to the thought that there is no imperfection in God's perfect creation. As a result I began to grow spiritually, making many demonstrations of my own, but of course continuing to call for help whenever support seemed necessary.
I have been healed of colds, frequent bilious attacks, sties, a worrisome wart, a bad case of sunburn, and boils. I received an instantaneous healing of the effects of a beesting through the clear realization that the universe is filled with God's spiritual ideas only, each idea expressing a genuine love for the others.
When one who was very dear to me passed on, I would have been lost without the help of Christian Science. I found much comfort in Mrs. Eddy's words (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 295), "I sympathize with those who mourn, but rejoice in knowing our dear God comforts such with the blessed assurance that life is not lost; its influence remains in the minds of men, and divine Love holds its substance safe in the certainty of immortality."
I was left with a building and a business, the stock of which consisted of photographic and graphic arts equipment; but through my reliance on God's direction everything was disposed of appropriately. I was always led to make the right decision at the right time.
One morning I awoke with the symptoms of a cold. At first I was tempted to be discouraged since I had a very important appointment early in the day. However, I realized that this was another opportunity to prove God's allness. Then these words from Genesis came to my thought (1:31): "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good."I began to reason that of course God made all and that He made everything good. He gives only good to everyone, but this cold was not good because God did not make it. Then it did not belong to me. It did not belong to anyone. Therefore I refused to accept it. I was healed instantaneously. It was a wonderful experience. And, come to think of it, I have not been bothered with a cold since.
About four years ago two cysts appeared on my body a short distance apart. I prayed diligently, affirming the allness of God and the nothingness of matter. I was in such pain and discomfort that I decided to call on a practitioner for assistance with this problem. I worked along with the practitioner for three days, quietly studying and declaring the truth. On the fourth day I asked God to show me what needed correction in my thinking and turned to these words (Unity of Good by Mrs. Eddy, p. 60): "Christ cannot come to mortal and material sense, which sees not God. This false sense of substance must yield to His eternal presence, and so dissolve." This brought me great comfort.
With the help of the practitioner I endeavored to gain a better understanding of true substance. I held firmly to "the scientific statement of being," found on page 468 of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, which begins: "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all."
I knew that in reality there can be no false sense of substance, for omnipresence is conscious of its own perfect substance, the substance of good. Man, God's reflection, is spiritual, not material, manifesting only the substance of God, Spirit. I knew that these truths are law and act as law to my experience and to the experience of everyone. That afternoon one cyst broke and drained, and very late that night the second one opened. The "false sense of substance" did yield to Truth. By the next morning there was a complete healing, and I was free and about my regular activities.
I am very grateful that persistence in truth always results in victory. I am very grateful for the experience of class instruction, for all the help I have received through the application of Christian Science, and for the unfoldment of wonderful companionship in my human experience. For Christ Jesus, our Way-shower, and for Mrs. Eddy and her genuine love for mankind, I am also sincerely grateful.— Indian Lake Estates, Florida.
