Testimonials.
“Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (St. Paul). Testimony in regard to the healing of the sick is highly important. More than a mere rehearsal of blessings, it scales the pinnacle of praise and illustrates the demonstration of Christ, “who healeth all thy diseases” (Psalm 103:3). This testimony, however, shall not include a description of symptoms or of suffering, though the generic name of the disease may be indicated. This By-Law applies to testimonials which appear in the periodicals and to those which are given at the Wednesday evening meeting.
— Mary Baker Eddy, Manual of The Mother Church, Article 8, Section 24
While serving in my role as First Reader during a recent Wednesday testimony meeting, I couldn’t help feeling a deep sense of joy and gratitude for the willingness of the testifiers to describe some of the most profound healing experiences that have taken place in their lives. It’s really the most wonderful thing!
For instance, during this particular meeting, someone told how she had been healed of a birth defect after years of prayer, something those of us who know her would never have known about unless it had been shared this way. The testifier explained in general terms the limitation she had experienced her entire life. She then went on to explain how she had applied her understanding of God through prayer, off and on for a long time.
Then one day, while she was on a walk, the thought came to her that she needed to become more aware of what she was thinking. She needed to acknowledge the good that God was giving everyone, including her. A couple of days later, when she was on another walk, she realized she was completely healed of the birth defect.
This kind of testimony not only enables us to rejoice in someone else’s healing, but also to realize that we can experience that same healing power ourselves. The incredible benefit of coming together once a week to hear how Christian Science has been effectively demonstrated in the lives of friends, family, and people we’ve never met, is so great! And why is this true?
Perhaps a significant part of the answer lies in the By-Law concerning testimonials which Mary Baker Eddy provided in the Church Manual, where she wrote: “Testimony in regard to the healing of the sick is highly important. More than a mere rehearsal of blessings, it scales the pinnacle of praise and illustrates the demonstration of Christ, ‘who healeth all thy diseases’ (Psalm 103:3)” (p. 47). It seems worthwhile here to think more deeply about just how important it is to illustrate “the demonstration of Christ.”
According to the seventh chapter of Luke’s Gospel, John the Baptist sent disciples to Jesus to ask if he were, in fact, “he that should come”—in other words, the Messiah, or Christ. By way of answering, the account says that “in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight” (Luke 7:19, 21). It would appear from these verses of Scripture that Jesus must have felt the way to answer John’s question was with proof—with demonstration—and not with the mere statement of a doctrine or creed.
Mrs. Eddy takes note of this incident, and writes of it in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Our Master taught no mere theory, doctrine, or belief. It was the divine Principle of all real being which he taught and practised. His proof of Christianity was no form or system of religion and worship, but Christian Science, working out the harmony of Life and Love. Jesus sent a message to John the Baptist, which was intended to prove beyond a question that the Christ had come: ‘Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.’ In other words: Tell John what the demonstration of divine power is, and he will at once perceive that God is the power in the Messianic work” (pp. 26–27).
The proof afforded through Christian healing, that Christian Science is what has been claimed for it, is absolutely essential to verify the truth of what it teaches.
With the multitude of views that abound today regarding what constitutes authentic Christianity, it could be asserted, as James did in his epistle: “Shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (2:18). The proof afforded through Christian healing, that Christian Science is what has been claimed for it, is absolutely essential to verify the truth of what it teaches. And what’s equally important is the fact that anyone who is willing to follow the instructions given in the Christian Science textbook can prove its truth for themselves.
Mrs. Eddy writes: “A simple statement of Christian Science, if demonstrated by healing, contains the proof of all here said of Christian Science. If one of the statements in this book is true, every one must be true, for not one departs from the stated system and rule. You can prove for yourself, dear reader, the Science of healing, and so ascertain if the author has given you the correct interpretation of Scripture” (Science and Health, p. 547).
Sharing testimonies of healing, either at Wednesday meetings or through submitting them for publication in periodicals such as this one, puts on record the wonderful fact that the application of the teachings of Christian Science produces healing. Far more than just giving thanks to God for healings, these testimonies reveal the significant fact that a correct understanding of God can actually be demonstrated consistently by anyone who follows the rules laid down in Science and Health.
This consistent ability to demonstrate the Science, illustrates the activity of the Christ, the divine activity of God “which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error” (Science and Health, p. 583). This is what constitutes the Christian part of Christian Science.
What about times, then, when a longtime student of this Science is challenged by a condition that doesn’t seem to yield—be it disease or some other bodily dysfunction? The suggestion that often presents itself is that the student doesn’t know how to heal the condition.
Sometimes, the suggestion goes further and argues that they can’t be sure they’ve ever had a real demonstration of healing, utilizing the teachings of Christian Science—even though these individuals may actually have had healings throughout their lives.
As unbelievable as this may sound, more than a few individuals fail to see such suggestions for the falsehoods that they actually are. The aggressive mental suggestion that one can’t deal successfully with the false beliefs of sickness and disease, after studying Christian Science for many years, needs to be seen for the blatant lie of animal magnetism that it is. And it can be destroyed with the clear recognition that one infinite, all-knowing, ever-present Mind is forever governing and controlling its complete, pure, perfect, spiritual idea, man.
Successfully seeing through this false claim is essential to facilitating healing. A simple tool that is helpful in dealing with this suggestion is to write down healings when they come, and keep a running record for ourselves of healings accomplished by our practice of Christian Science. Then, if the suggestion comes that we haven’t had any healings, we simply have to look in our log book to see that lie for the lie it is.
There’s another side of this false claim which occurs frequently enough that some have even given it a name: “Pew Glue.” It occurs during testimony meetings and suggests that we don’t have any healings to share, can’t recall them, and what we do have to share, no one will want to hear anyway! So we stay glued to our seats.
We need to see how utterly ridiculous these suggestions are, and recognize they have no mind from which to originate and we have no mind to take them in and react to them. We cannot be made to forget the healings that have come through our practice of Christian Science, nor can we be made to neglect the opportunity a testimony meeting affords to share with our family, friends, fellow members, and visitors the true joy of acknowledging the healing power of the Christ, which has touched us.
Taking the foregoing discussion into account, one can reasonably ask just exactly when it is appropriate to share a testimony of healing. Should one wait a week? A month? A year? It really isn’t a question of how much time needs to pass, but rather, how certain, how absolutely sure we are in our heart that the healing is complete and cannot be reversed. Some healings are good to share right away. Other healings that may have taken some time to work out might do well to be cherished in our hearts for a while before sharing them at a testimony meeting. We can trust that the Christ, which brought the healing truth, will also reveal to us the best time to share the healing experience.
In the By-Law on testimonials, Mrs. Eddy makes one other point, which offers important counsel regarding the sharing of testimonies: “This testimony, however, shall not include a description of symptoms or of suffering, though the generic name of the disease may be indicated” (Manual, p. 47).
While it’s useful for the congregation to know what condition was healed, the point of a testimony is to focus on the healing. When the focus shifts to lengthy descriptions of symptoms and suffering, those listening can become so impressed with these material elements that more harm than good is done. Instead of focusing on the healing, the listener may surrender his or her thought to fear and imagination. The result may be that the illness, injury, or whatever the situation was can be made to appear more real than ever, instead of being reduced to the false belief, the lie, it always was.
While one is testifying, it’s almost always helpful to include specific spiritual truths that inspired one’s thought in bringing about the healing. Often, a spiritual idea or fact shared in a testimony will provide just the insight someone listening might need to heal some problem or condition he or she is praying about. Countless times we hear someone share a testimony of healing that resulted from a spiritual idea they heard at a testimony meeting the previous week.
What a wonderful multiplying of good is going on when this happens! Truly what blesses one can and does bless all.
When the whole congregation is focused on sharing testimonies with the purpose of acknowledging the healing power of Christian Science and expressing to those present the joy, the peace, the freedom they have gained through faithful prayer and steadfastness, no one can leave such a meeting without feeling the healing touch of the Christ.
