I was introduced to Christian Science through the healing of my mother. While visiting relatives, I received a message that she had been taken to the hospital after being stricken with great pain. It took about three hours for my husband and me to reach the town in which my parents lived. On arrival at the hospital, our family doctor told me that there was absolutely no hope and that I must prepare myself for her passing.
Mother's condition had been diagnosed as a ruptured gallbladder. She had been rushed to the operating room where it was found that peritonitis had already set in. And her heart condition was very bad. Because of the seeming hopelessness of Mother's condition, the gallbladder was not removed. She was simply taken back to her room.
As we sat in the hospital waiting room, I remembered that Mother had written me that she had been attending a Church of Christ, Scientist, since visiting in the Middle West a sister who was interested in Christian Science. A member of a family who were Christian Scientists guided me to the Journal, in which I found a practitioner listed in the town.
I have always remembered this woman's calm, gentle manner which helped to steady my frightened thought. By the time I talked with her, Mother was in a coma. The practitioner agreed to take the case. When the doctor was told that we had asked for Christian Science treatment, he was cooperative and discontinued the small amount of medicine that had been used. He said he had read Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy and had great respect for its teachings.
At the end of a month, during which Mother was known as "the miracle patient" in the hospital, she was sent home. However, our doctor, as well as the surgeon, warned me that my mother would live for possibly only a few months longer. They explained that if she was to go on living, the gallbladder would have to be removed and that her heart would not stand the operation. Also that the incision they had made when she was in the operating room would not heal. The incision did heal, and Mother did not undergo another operation to remove the gallbladder.
At that time I lived in a small town in the South where there was no branch church. Later, on returning to the North and at a time of great mental need, I too turned to God for healing. The blessings which have come to me through the study of Christian Science are tremendous. One of my earliest physical healings was that of constipation which had troubled me from childhood. I was freed from the smoking habit with the help of a practitioner, though I had tried vainly to stop before turning to Christian Science.
I am so grateful for all the channels for spiritual growth which Mrs. Eddy was led to provide for those ready for the teachings of Science. I am particularly grateful for the periodicals and for the standard of journalism which The Christian Science Monitor is setting for the world.— Red Bank, New Jersey.
I am the mother referred to in the testimony given above by my daughter. This healing took place thirty-three years ago, and there has never been a recurrence of the gallbladder trouble.
My gratitude is deep for the consecrated work of the practitioner at that time and for the practitioners who have helped me in the years since. Some healings have come quickly, others more slowly, but always with a lesson learned. I am grateful for membership in The Mother Church, for Science and Health, and for all the periodicals.—
