For many healings received and demonstrations made through my study and application of Christian Science, I am very grateful. It is a joy for me to tell of two experiences in particular.
Some years ago, I found it necessary to revisit the United States. My very decision to do so was the result of prayer in Christian Science. I had to overcome quite a few obstacles before I secured the necessary documents and ticket, and only through complete reliance on Truth was the way cleared for me to make the visit.
At the time of my arrival in New York, there was a great deal of unemployment in my particular field of work and a general depression all around. With the strength of conviction, I was able to hold constantly to the truth that in God's kingdom there is no unemployment, no lack. Yet people younger than I and with higher recommendations in their favor were without work, struggling to find some.
After many attempts to find employment through human efforts, I succumbed to fear. Usually, I would pray and study on my own until I was free from a claim of error, but now I realized that I needed reassurance, and soon. To that end, I telephoned a Christian Science practitioner and asked for help. I was told that in reality my need had already been met and nothing was wrong. Receiving no response from me, the practitioner asked, "What do you really think the matter is?"
Well, there was not really anything the matter, but I was obliged to admit that I had begun to criticize my neighbor. I found fault with every person and every condition that I came in contact with. While I was talking with the practitioner, it seemed that my erroneous thinking took on terrifying proportions; and under her loving questioning I indeed understood that I had fallen into a pit of self-pity and that I had to climb out of it.
The practitioner told me she thought that resentment and faultfinding were among the worst offenses anyone could be guilty of. Resentment is perhaps the most subtle of all sin, because it will sneak up on us, and very often it is suggested to us by our nearest and dearest, as in the case of the disciple, Peter, whom our dear Master rebuked in these words (Mark 8:33): "Get thee behind me, Satan." I was very grateful for the lesson I had been taught, and for days after this conversation I dwelt in that attitude of humility.
Then one day, on the way to my agent's office, I was suddenly reminded of Jesus calling to his disciples (John 21:6), "Cast the net on the right side." Immediately I accepted the challenge, and when I reached the agent's office I told her that I had changed my mind and was now looking for a temporary position instead of regular employment.
Later that same day I was advised that just such an opportunity was available right away. It would last five weeks, and I would be paid a higher salary than I had ever earned. Shortly the five weeks were lengthened into five months. This answer to my prayer came in the midst of an economic depression and with my age, to human thought, against me. "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine" (Luke 15:31).
In 1954 I had planned to return to Sweden, but before leaving the United States I wanted to visit The Mother Church. For months I had been suffering from pain in my feet. I had to avoid standing and walking and would count my steps in order to save my feet. However, The Mother Church I would see; so I went to Boston. And on a beautiful Sunday in June I got ready for church.
Out on the street I started walking. It was not far, and on this first visit to The Mother Church I did not want to go by taxi or bus. I wanted to arrive walking. Soon I heard the chimes from the cupola of The Mother Church peal forth music to which one of Mrs. Eddy's beloved poems is set, and to this tune I walked.
I do not remember whether I thought of being absent from the body, but I prayed that I might put all erroneous thinking aside, that I might overcome all ugly traits of character, that I might enter into my Father's house in spirit and in truth, into this temple built by love and consecrated to the glory of the Father, the Son, and Christian Science, the promised Comforter. Coming down the aisle of the well-filled auditorium, I was conscious only of the miracle that I was in The Mother Church.
I heard the First Reader read from Science and Health (p. 176), "Mortal mind is the worst foe of the body, while divine Mind is its best friend." I pondered a moment Mrs. Eddy's simple statement of so positive a fact. Of course it was mortal mind that had surrendered to the belief in pain.
The day after this unforgettable day in my life, I was back in New York and about my daily tasks. I had an errand to attend to; and as I came out of the railroad station, walking painfully on my aching feet, the Christ touched and healed me. My shackles fell. I was instantaneously healed.
In Science and Health we read on page 78: "Spirit blesses man, but man cannot 'tell whence it cometh.' By it the sick are healed, the sorrowing are comforted, and the sinning are reformed. These are the effects of one universal God, the invisible good dwelling in eternal Science." In this instance, I was suddenly conscious of healing, all at once as it was manifested. The liberating thought or message was not clear to me, but I recalled God's words to Paul (II Cor. 12:9), "My grace is sufficient for thee," and was satisfied.
I am very grateful to God for my visit to The Mother Church and its healing influence, and I am grateful for church membership and for the ever-expanding activities of the Christian Science movement.— Bromma, Sweden.
