On Thanksgiving morning, 1966, as my wife and I were getting ready to go to church, a representative of the United States Navy called at our home to inform us that our older son, who was stationed in Saigon, had been badly injured in an accident. According to the report, he was in critical condition, unconscious and unable to communicate with us. Our thought turned immediately to God. We sent our boy the following communication: "One thing only is true—God is your Life, and you are His perfect, indestructible child. We shall use this opportunity to prove God's omnipotence. Prayerful work is being done. Fear not."
The military doctors were most kind and did all they could, but the material picture was bleak. Medical findings were two broken legs and a broken hip, infection, and obstruction in the bloodstream that caused weeks of unconsciousness. But these were healed through Christian Science when all other means failed.
We countered each false suggestion by working ever harder to see only man's perfection, to recognize that error is always dissolved by Truth, to understand that man's only consciousness is spiritual. We applied ourselves diligently to the study of the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.
Some of the many quotations from these writings that were effectively applied are these (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 173): "Mind is its own great cause and effect. Mind is God, omnipotent and omnipresent." And further on the page, "If Mind, God, is all-power and all-presence, man is not met by another power and presence, that—obstructing his intelligence—pains, fetters, and befools him." Also (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 407): "No faculty of Mind is lost. In Science, all being is eternal, spiritual, perfect, harmonious in every action."
After his transfer from Vietnam to a military hospital in California, while we were at his bedside, on December 26 our boy spoke to us for the first time. It was only about four words, and we really didn't understand them, but the mesmerism was broken.
One of the most outstanding aspects of our son's healing concerned his right leg and hip. The doctor in charge told us that our son would never walk again. X-ray pictures confirmed this from a medical point of view. However, my wife and I did not accept this conclusion but concentrated on Mrs. Eddy's statement (ibid., p. 200): "Life is, always has been, and ever will be independent of matter; for Life is God, and man is the idea of God, not formed materially but spiritually, and not subject to decay and dust." Nothing more was said about this condition, and our son progressed rapidly from wheelchair, to crutches, to cane. Today, even the cane is gone, and the same doctor later called our son a "walking miracle."
Our son is today attending a state college near our home. He has a lovely wife, whom he met at the Christian Science college organization. Is it any wonder that we're saying, "Thank You, God"?
I cannot conclude this testimony without expressing gratitude for the wonderful Christian Science Ministers for Armed Services Personnel at home and overseas, and for the magnificent practitioners who, by virtue of their love and understanding and dedication, serve the healing Cause so effectively.
Woodland Hills, California
I wish to add my expression of gratitude to my husband's foregoing testimony regarding our son.
First, my very deep gratitude for the far-reaching avenues of our beloved Mother Church! The workers in the Field truly represent love in action meeting the human need.
The Bible truths our son had learned in the Christian Science Sunday School sustained him all the way.
The night the doctor talked to us about our son's hip condition, I stood by our son's bed and said, "Don't you believe it! Remember, God loves you!"
Following this talk with the doctor, I was inspired to give the doctor a copy of our textbook, Science and Health. I explained that this little book would help him to understand how we were working and praying for our son. This indeed was a great turning point in the healing.
One of the greatest blessings to this young man is that he is firmer in Truth, and he and his wife have had the wonderful privilege of taking class instruction from the consecrated teacher who stood so steadfastly with us all. Our son is also an active member of our branch church.
So much good is being unfolded to us constantly that my heart sings with gratitude.
It is with great pleasure that I add to the testimony by my mother and father, who patiently helped me during the days that were spent on the road to recovery.
I had just completed Sunday School a little over a year and a half previous to my assignment in Saigon. I recall that prior to the collision of the two military vehicles I found myself quietly praying. I had learned in my Sunday School training that accidents are nonexistent in the kingdom of God, in which we all live. Shortly after the collision I lost consciousness, to awake in a U. S. Naval Hospital in the United States.
After I regained consciousness, the second phase of the struggle against error began. The broken legs and hip condition made a bleak picture according to material sense. Yet I understood my true spiritual status to be unchanged, perfect as God's reflection, needing, in reality, only to know that I had never left God's kingdom.
There were times when the going was tough, the erroneous suggestion being that I would not be able to walk or live a normal life. As trust in God and thankful prayer to Him continued, the hopeless condition proved to be untrue. I began to walk and am walking now; there was never a retrograde step in my healing.
I know that I would never have had this wonderful freedom without the faith and knowledge that I am God's perfect reflection. One loving thought keeps returning to me, which my dad had told me years ago, "Remember, son, one with God is a majority." (And so it is, when one is faced with a host of mortal mind suggestions). Truly,
I walk with Love along the way,
And O, it is a holy day.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 139.)
I would like to add that I am married and have a son of my own. I have graduated from one college and am now attending another, where I hope to receive my teaching credentials. I have had class instruction and am a Sunday School teacher in a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, where my wife and I are members.
Canoga Park, California
