My earnest study of Christian Science began because of my desire to support and co-operate with another member of the family who had turned to this truth as a last resort for healing. After about four years of diligent study and persistent application of Christian Science, she was completely healed. Some of the false claims which were disproved at that time were carious bones, fistula, an abscessed kidney and abscessed lungs, inflammation, and deformity.
Mary Baker Eddy states in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health (p. 167), "Only through radical reliance on Truth can scientific healing power be realized." Qualities of thought which attended the spiritual awakening in this healing included courage, persistence, consecration, joy, expectation; and a better understanding of God and of man's unending relationship to Him was gained.
During this period, I had numerous proofs of divine Love's protecting and healing power in my own experience. One of these healings was the overcoming of acute stomach trouble. Upon recovering consciousness after one of these attacks, I found myself repeating "the scientific statement of being" from page 468 of Science and Health. It was almost as though a light had been turned on, and I knew that I was healed. There has been no return of this trouble in over twenty years. Accompanying this healing was a realization that I had let go of a false sense of personal responsibility.
At another time I was afflicted with itching on my feet and ankles and with ringworm on one wrist. Scratching was causing the condition to spread and to seem more real. Upon examining my thinking, I also found that ignoring the problem did not heal it and that such an attitude was not consistent with Paul's words (II Cor. 5:8), "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."
By turning more completely to the truth which had been acquired through the study and application of Christian Science, I saw that I had divine authority for resisting the devil, denying the reality of false claims of disease, and relying completely on God. I soon lost all fear, and I was quickly and permanently healed. The use of tobacco was overcome, and social drinking also disappeared.
Some of the other healings which I have experienced through the application of Christian Science are those of fractured bones, a dislocated shoulder joint, sprains, bruises, fever, pneumonia, and business problems.
I am grateful for the protection which the daily study of Christian Science has afforded me. This protection was proved during the severe earthquake in Long Beach, California, in 1933. I also came through an explosion unharmed, and our son and his playmate were divinely guided and protected when lost in the mountains.
My gratitude for healings and a growing realization of the truth of Christian Science awakened within me a desire to share its blessings with all mankind. The results were membership in The Mother Church, in a branch church, and class instruction.
Church activity and class instruction have been most helpful in my spiritual progress. They proved essential in the healing of a severe case of hemorrhoids, as well as of constipation. The healing was not completed for several years, but the difficulties finally yielded to the truth; this proved the verity of Mrs. Eddy's statement (Science and Health, p. 370), "The body improves under the same regimen which spiritualizes the thought."— Pasadena, California.
