Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures
by
Mary Baker Eddy
Part 14 out of 14
straight to me and mine. It aids us in our daily overcoming of the
tyranny of the flesh and its rebellion against the blessed leading of
Christ, Truth. The daily study of the Bible and our textbook is bringing
more and more into our consciousness the power of God unto salvation. -
J. C., Manatee, Fla.
A CRITIC CONVINCED
With gratitude to God I acknowledge my lifelong debt to Christian
Science. In 1895 I attended my first Christian Science meeting, and was
deeply impressed with the earnestness of the people and the love
reflected, but as for the spiritual healing of the physical body, I did
not believe such a thing to be possible. I bought Science and Health and
studied it to be able to dispute intelligently with the supposedly
deluded followers of Christian Science. I pursued the study carefully
and thoroughly, and I have had abundant reason since to be glad that I
did, for through this study, and the resultant understanding of my
relation to God, I was healed of a disease with which I had been
afflicted since childhood and for which there was no known remedy.
Surely my experience has been the fulfilling in part of the Scripture:
"He sent His Word and healed them, and delivered them from their
destructions." I believe that Science and Health reveals the Word
referred to by David. - C. A. B. B., Kansas City, Mo.
BORN AGAIN
It was in April, 1904, that I first heard the "still, small voice" of
the Christ and received healing through Christian Science; and the
blessings have been so many since, that it would take too much space to
name them. Reared from childhood in an intellectual atmosphere, my
paternal grandfather having been an orthodox minister of the old school
for forty years, and my father a deep student, ever seeking for the
truth of all things, I began early to ponder and to study into the
meaning of life, and came to the conclusion before I was twenty that
though God probably existed in some remote place, still it was
impossible to connect Him with my present living. My highest creed,
therefore, became, "Do right because it _is_ right and not for fear of
being punished." Then began the suffering. Sorrow after sorrow followed
each other in rapid succession; for ten long years there was no rest,
the road was indeed long and hard and had no turning, until finally the
one thing that had stood by me all through the trials, namely, my
health, gave way, and with that went my last hope. But the last hour of
the night had come, the dawn of day was at hand; a dear friend left
Science and Health upon my piano one day, saying that I would gain much
good by reading it.
Glad to get away from my own poor thoughts, I opened the "little book"
and began to read. I had read only a short time when such a wonderful
transformation took place! I was renewed; born again. Mere words cannot
tell the story of the mighty up-lifting that carried me to the very
gates of heaven. When I began to read the book, life was a burden, but
before I had finished reading it the first time, I was doing all my
housework and doing it easily; and since that glorious day I have been a
well woman. My health is splendid, and I am striving to let my light so
shine that others may be led to the truth. There have been some mighty
struggles with error, and I have learned that we cannot reach heaven
with one long stride or easily drift inside the gate, but that the
"asking" and the "seeking" and the "knocking" must be earnest and
persistent.
For a long time I was always looking back to see if
the error had gone, until one day when I realized that to catch a
glimpse of what spiritual sense means I must put corporeal sense behind
me. I then set to work in earnest to find the true way. I opened Science
and Health and these words were before me, "If God were understood,
instead of being merely believed, this understanding would establish
health" (p. 203). I saw that I must get the right understanding of God!
I closed the book and with head bowed in prayer I waited with longing
intensity for some answer. How long I waited I do not know, but
suddenly, like a wonderful burst of sunlight after a storm, came clearly
this thought, "Be still, and know that I am God." I held my breath -
deep into my hungering thought sank the infinite meaning of that "I."
All self-conceit, egotism, selfishness, everything that constitutes the
mortal "I," sank abashed out of sight. I trod, as it were, on holy
ground. Words are inadequate to convey the fullness of that spiritual
uplifting, but others who have had similar experiences will understand.
From that hour I have had an intelligent consciousness of the
ever-presence of an infinite God who is only good. - C. B. G., Hudson,
Mass.
A RESTLESS SENSE OF EXISTENCE DESTROYED
Through reading Science and Health and the illumination which followed,
I was healed of ulceration of the stomach and kindred troubles, a
restless sense of existence, agnosticism, etc. The torture I endured
with the stomach trouble I will not attempt to describe. The attending
physician declared that I could live but a short time, and I felt there
would be a limit to my endurance of the torture, but the disease was
dissipated into nothingness through Christian Science, which brought me
peace.
Like many others I had been seemingly lost in the sea of error, without
a compass, yet earnestly and honestly seeking a haven. I had
investigated all kinds of religions and philosophies that came under my
notice, with the exception of Christian Science, which was not then
deemed worthy of inquiry, and yet it held the very truth I was searching
for - the light which "shineth in the darkness; and the darkness
comprehended it not." Three years of stubborn resistance to Truth, with
increasing suffering, followed - then the light came, and with it a new
experience. Now, after nine years of Christian Science experience, under
severe tests, it can be truthfully said that it has not failed me in any
hour of need. - J. F. J., Cincinnati, Ohio.
MORALLY AND PHYSICALLY HEALED
I did not accept Christian Science on account of any healing of my own,
but after seeing my mother, who was fast drifting toward helplessness
with rheumatism, restored to perfect health with only a few treatments
in Christian Science, I thought surely this must be the truth as Jesus
taught and practised it, and if so it was what I had been longing for.
This was about ten years ago and was the first I had ever heard of
Christian Science. We soon got a copy of Science and Health and I began
in the right way to see if Christian Science were the truth. I had no
thought of studying it for bodily healing; in fact, I did not think I
needed it for that, but my soul cried out for something I had not yet
found. This book was indeed a key to the Scriptures.
It was not long after I began reading before I discovered that my eyes
were good and strong, I could read as much as I wished, and at any time,
which was something I could not do before, as my eyes had always been
weak. The doctors said they never would be very strong, and that if I
did not wear glasses, I might lose my sight altogether. I never gave up
to wearing glasses, and now, thanks to Christian Science, I do not need
them, my work for the past two years as a railway mail clerk being a
good test. At the same time my eyes were healed, I also noticed that I
was entirely healed of another ailment which had been with me all my
life, and which was believed to be inherited. Since that time my growth
has seemed to me slow, yet when I look back and view myself as I was
before Christian Science found me, and compare it with my life as it now
is, I can only close my eyes to the picture and rejoice that I have been
"born again" and that I have daily been putting off "the old man with
his deeds," and putting on "the new man."
Some of the many things that have been overcome through the study of
Science and Health, and through realizing and practising the truth it
teaches, are profanity, the use of tobacco, a very quick temper, which
made both myself and those around me at times very miserable, and such
thoughts as malice, revenge, etc. - O. L. R., Fort Worth, Tex.
HEALTH AND UNDERSTANDING GAINED
Most of my boyhood days were spent in the hands of physicians. From
birth I was considered a very weakly child, but my mother was brave, and
being much devoted to me did everything within her knowledge and power
for my comfort. Sickness and medicine were continually before me, and by
the time I reached my teens I thought I knew a material remedy for every
ill. I continued in my delusion, because I was never told the real cause
of my trouble. Besides being under a leading specialist for two years, I
was also an outdoor patient at a noted hospital, but I was not healed.
It is wonderful how the "little ones" are cared for in the face of all
these seeming difficulties. I always used the prayers that I had been
taught, and as I grew older I began to ask for wisdom. Little by little
I gained a desire for freedom, and my prayers finally led me to the
truth. The first week that I heard of Christian Science, I visited the
home of dear Christian Science friends, and was at once refreshed by
their purity of thought and example. I bought a copy of Science and
Health, and, after studying it a little while with the Bible, I saw that
if the Bible was true, Science and Health must also be true. I began to
demonstrate over my physical and mental condition, and as soon as the
fear and pain began to leave me I felt encouraged to go on. I was
healed, and stopped complaining. I kept on studying our textbook, and
when I got an understanding in a small degree of the Science of Mind, my
first thought was to help others. I was guided where I could pro-
gress in Science, and was no longer "carried about with every wind of
doctrine," but held to Principle as closely as possible. From the time
the healing came into my consciousness, the desire for material remedies
left me, because Christian Science at once pointed out the way to get at
the cause of discord and disease. All that I had to give up were the
false beliefs of mortal mind. Christian Science then taught me to love
the church, and to appreciate what it had already done for mankind. I
often thought of the old adage, "Charity begins at home," and after
three years' preparation I felt able to take Christian Science to my
home, where it found, in due time, ready acceptance and willing
disciples. This gave me even greater joy than my own healing. The more
good I saw accomplished, the more love I had for the truth. Christian
Science changed my course from the first, and gave me a nobler aim and
purpose in life. I was not so easily influenced by other people's
shortcomings, when I learned that evil has neither personality nor
place. I was not so ready to take offence, when I found out the way to
work unselfishly for the upbuilding of the Cause. - A. E. J., Toledo,
Ohio.
AN EVER-PRESENT HELP FOUND
On the 23rd of March, 1900, I received from one of my daughters a copy
of Science and Health on my seventy-first birthday. Although a constant
reader of all kinds of papers and books, I had never heard anything of
Christian Science, except a short notice that spring in a San Francisco
newspaper, from an orthodox clergyman, referring to the Christian
Science people in not very complimentary style.
In Mrs. Eddy's book I came across a great deal of thought that was not
readily understood at the first reading, but by continued and careful
study, and a good deal of help from my knowledge of chemistry and
natural philosophy, I soon shook off the belief of sensation in matter,
- the so-called elementary substance. One afternoon I put the belt on my
circular saw to cut blocks of firewood and also to split a small stick
of frame timber. In doing this the stick closed and pinched the saw. I
picked up a small wooden wedge and tried to drive it into the saw kerf,
but a bit of ice let the stick on to the back of the saw and instantly
it flew, with heavy force, into my face, and bouncing off my left cheek
fell about twenty feet off on the snow. The blood spattered on the snow
next the saw table, and on feeling with my hand there were two wounds,
one on the lock of the jaw and another forward, as big as a dollar, on
the cheek bone. "Now," I thought to myself, "there is a case of surgery
for you," and without further ceremony, I began to treat the case to the
best of my knowledge, with the result that the bleeding stopped almost
instantly, and so did a thumping pain, which had commenced. I paid no
more attention to the matter, but finished my work, and then went to
supper. When I washed my face, I felt a big lump on the jawbone where
the block of wood struck, but after my usual reading I went to bed and
slept all night until near daylight, when a pain on the right side awoke
me. On feeling with my hand there was another big lump on the right
side, but I treated it and went to sleep again. I never lost an hour
from the hurt, although I found out that my jaw was broken. There is no
scar, only a little red spot on the cheek, and the lumps on the bone
have long since disappeared.
In summing up the benefits I have received from the reading of Science
and Health, I can but refer to a condition of sickness dating back to
the war (1862), when chronic and malignant diarrhea came near making an
end of my material existence. My hearing, also, was seriously impaired
from the effect of cannon firing at Shiloh, but it has come back to me,
and where I formerly dared not eat an orange, or grapes, I can now eat
anything without being hurt. My peace of mind is giving me a rest which
I never experienced before during my life, and I have ceased to look
away off for the divine presence that was always near, though I did not
know it. - L. B., Baldy, N. M.
MANY PHYSICAL AND MENTAL TROUBLES OVERCOME
Less than a year ago, when nothing but trouble seemed to encompass me, I
was led to Christian Science. My mother's copy of Science and Health was
always lying on the table, but I scarcely ever read it. One day,
however, the mental conflict was so great I commenced reading in the
hope of obtaining peace. Every day since then my companions have been
the Bible and Science and Health. At that time I had a very serious
eruption on my face, which had been there two years. We had consulted
several physicians, and used every remedy suggested to eradicate it, but
they proved useless. I had given up all hopes of its ever being healed,
as the physician we last consulted pronounced it tuberculosis of the
skin and incurable. A few weeks after I commenced reading, I was amazed
to see it almost healed over, and to-day my cheek is perfectly smooth,
while the scar is disappearing.
In April my baby was born with only the practitioner and a woman friend
present. I suffered little pain, and the third day I went down-stairs. I
am able to nurse him, - a privilege of which I was deprived with my
first child. He is a picture of health, having never been sick a day
since he was born. - K. E. W. L., Mt. Dora, Fla.
A NEW LIFE GAINED
Leaving home when a young man, I carried with me a protection against
the temptation of a great city, - a mother's prayers and a small Bible.
For a time I read the Bible and prayed, but without understanding. This
did not suffice, and evil seemed to gain the victory. I soon omitted to
read my Bible; forgot to go to God in prayer for guidance and help, and
looked to the world for that which it never has and never can give, -
health, peace, and joy.
Thus, years later, when Christian Science came into my home, it found me
prayerless, churchless, godless; a home discordant, and with no thought
or knowledge of spiritual things. Up to this time, my wife had for years
been seeking health through the physicians, but without success, and as
a last resort had been sent to Christian Science. The help received was
so wonderful that I commenced the study of Science and Health. The first
effect which I realized from the reading of our textbook, was a great
love for the Bible and a desire to read it, something which I had not
done for years. I went in silent prayer to God, that I might see the
light and truth which would enable me to be-come a better man. "Ye must
be born again." Thus again, and as a child, was I taught to pray "the
effectual fervent prayer" which "availeth much." In a few weeks' study
of Science and Health together with the Bible, and without other help, I
was healed of a desire for liquor, of years' standing, and of the use of
tobacco. Ten years have passed and these appetites have never returned.
I have never used either liquor or tobacco in any form from that time to
the present. Surely this Scripture is fulfilled in our home: "Old things
are passed away; behold, all things are become new." How can we estimate
the value of a book, the study of which brings such transformation and
regeneration? Only as we endeavor to live, and strive to practise what
it teaches, can we begin to pay our debt to God, and to her whom He has
sent to make plain to human understanding the life and teaching of
Christ Jesus. - W. H. P., Boston, Mass.
A VOICE FROM ENGLAND
For a number of years I was a weary woman, not ill enough in health to,
be called an invalid, but suffering more than could be told with fatigue
and weakness. Feeling that this was God's will, I did not ask to be
healed, although I was constantly doctoring. I suffered with dyspepsia,
congestion of the liver, and many other things, including weak eyesight.
With all the medicine, and with different changes for rest, I never
regained health, and thought I never should, so I prayed for grace to
bear my cross patiently for others' sake. One day, while lying on my
couch exhausted, which had become a frequent experience, the words came
to me, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."
I rose, knelt down and said, O God, make me well. I was telling a friend
this and she kindly gave me a _Sentinel._ Imagine my joy when I saw the
testimonies of healing! I believed them, remembering our Lord's words,
"Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." I obtained
a copy of Science and Health and before a week had passed I realized
that if God was my all I needed no glasses. My eyes were healed in a few
days, and since then I have never thought of glasses. I was also cured
of dyspepsia, and nothing that I have eaten has hurt me since then. The
belief in health laws was next destroyed, by knowing that our heavenly
Father did not make them, and from this has come the beautiful
experience of the overcoming of fatigue.
For this alone I can never be thankful enough. True indeed are the
words, "They shall run, and not be weary." This was more than a year
ago, and I can say that not once have I felt inclined to lie on the
couch, nor have I had a headache, although I am doing more work than
ever before. Fear has also been overcome in many ways. - A. L.,
Chelmsford, England.
DEPRAVED APPETITES OVERCOME
When Christian Science first came to me, or rather, when I first came to
Christian Science, I did not have a very bad opinion of myself. I
thought I was a pretty good fellow. I had no religious views. I seemed
to be getting along as well as, if not better than, some who
professed Christianity. So I drifted along until I was led to
investigate Christian Science.
As I progressed in the understanding as gained from the study of both
Science and Health and the Bible, and commenced to know myself, I found
that a great change had been wrought in me. For fifteen years I had used
tobacco, both chewing and smoking; for ten years I had been a victim of
the drink habit, sometimes to excess; I was also addicted to profanity.
Christian Science removed these appetites. A stomach trouble and other
lesser ills, such as headache, a bad temper, an inordinate love of
money, etc., disappeared under the same benign influence. Those things
that seemed to be pleasure do not give me pleasure now. They were not
real pleasure. I have lost nothing, I have sacrificed nothing; but I
have gained everything, and not yet the whole, for I can see plenty yet
to be done.
The condition of mind before investigating and after is as different as
black and white. As Mrs. Eddy says, "Not matter, but Mind, satisfieth." -
G. B. P., Henry, S. D.
CATARRH OF THE STOMACH HEALED
I should like to express my gratitude for the many benefits I have
received through Christian Science, and to mention the great joy brought
to me in the thought that man is not the helpless victim of sin,
disease, and death. Through its teachings I have been able to overcome
many errors.
When Christian Science found me, one year ago last April, in Chicago, I
was suffering from catarrh of the stomach, which had been very
persistent, and I had been a slave to the cigarette habit for eighteen
years. Pain and weakness had robbed me of all that one holds dear. The
first symptoms of the disease appeared about five years ago in the form
of severe cramps of the stomach, which finally developed into other
symptoms of that painful disease. I doctored continually, my diet daily
becoming more rigid, until three slices of toast became my daily
allowance of food.
In this condition I left the East for my home in Chicago, hoping that a
change of climate might benefit me. After spending six weeks there and
finding no relief, I concluded to return East. The Sunday morning before
leaving I picked up a Sunday paper, and glancing through the religious
items my eyes fell on the notices of Christian Science church services.
Curiosity led me to a service and I shall never forget that morning or
the surprise and joy it gave me to find that beautiful church, and to
know that so great a number actually believed that God does heal the
sick to-day. This brought a first ray of hope. The evening service found
me there again. Among the notices read was that of a reading room,
giving the location and time of opening. Monday morning found me there
promptly, and the first book I picked up was Science and Health which
opened a new world to me.
I had dieted so long and suffered so much that I had a morbid fear of
food. When I had reached and read of "neither food nor the stomach,
without the consent of mortal mind, can make one suffer" (Science and
Health, p. 221), I left the reading room for something to eat. I found a
bakery near by, and bought a bag of cakes which I ate, and shortly after
I had a hearty dinner without the least complaint from my stomach.
>From that time until now I have eaten anything that I wished, and the
craving for cigarettes, which I had for many years, has entirely
vanished. The understanding of Truth, which entirely relieved the
diseased stomach, healed also the morbid appetite for smoking. After
coming back East, I bought a copy of Science and Health, which I have
read daily, and find it a continual help in all the affairs of life.
In my home and at work I find this Science a comfort and source of
strength. I have had many difficulties in the way, but it has helped me
out of them all. - W. E. B., New Britain, Conn.
SPINAL DISEASE HEALED
When I first heard of Christian Science, seven years ago, I supposed
that it was some old fad under a new name. In the little Texas town
where we then lived there were two or three Christian Scientists who met
at the home of one of their number to read the Lesson-Sermon. Meeting
one of them one day, I asked if unbelievers could come to their
meetings. She said that they could if they wanted to. I went, expecting
them to do something that I could laugh at when telling my friends about
it. How surprised I was to find out that they didn't do anything but
read the Bible and another book which they called Science and Health. I
still thought it all foolishness, but resolved to go to their meetings
until I found out all they believed. I continued to go until I began to
understand a little of what they knew, not what they believed; and
instead of spending my time telling others what a silly thing Christian
Science is, I am now trying to find words to tell what a great and
wonderful thing it is. I have been healed of so-called incurable spinal
disease of ten years' standing by studying the Bible and Science and
Health. Science and Health has been my only teacher, and I wish to send
my thanks to our dear Leader.
There are no other Scientists near where we now live, but I have the
_Quarterly_ and study the lessons by myself. I have five small children,
and Christian Science is invaluable to me in controlling them, and in
overcoming their common ills. They often help themselves and each other
to destroy their little hurts and fears. - Mrs. M. H., Oleta, Okla.
MANY TROUBLES OVERCOME
In the second chapter of First Peter, ninth verse, I read "that ye
should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvellous light." The periodicals so wisely established by our
Leader give us one means of showing forth the praises of Truth.
>From the darkness of physical pain and weariness into the light of
wholeness and joyousness in work and living, - from the darkness of a
clouded sight into the light of clearer vision, - from the darkness of
doubt and discord into the marvellous light of the reality of good, -
this is what a reading of the Christian Science textbook has done for
me.
At the time the book was lent to me, I was teach-
ing in the public schools of Chicago, and absences from my work on
account of illness were of frequent occurrence. For five weeks I had
been under the care of a specialist for an organic trouble, and he said
I would have to come as many more months before a cure could be
effected. At this time, Science and Health was brought to my notice. I
never thought of such a thing as being healed by the reading of the
book, but my thought was so changed that I was healed, not only of the
organic trouble, but of blurred eyesight, fatigue, and a train of other
discordant manifestations. I did not go back to the physician until four
months later to pay my bill (which, by the way, was more than five times
the price of the Science and Health I had purchased). From the time I
read the book I taught steadily without losing time from my work. I was
helped, too, with my work in many other ways.
Through reading the textbook I learned that God has given us strength to
do all we have to do, and that it is the things we do not have to do
(the envying, strife, emulating, vainglorying, and so on) that leave in
their wake fatigue and discord.
Gratitude to our beloved Leader, Mrs. Eddy, and to her faithful
students, with whom I afterwards became associated, can be expressed
only by daily efforts to put into practice what has been taught. - T. H.
A., Madison, Wis.
PREJUDICE OVERCOME
I became interested in Christian Science somewhat over three years ago
when in much need of help. I had never been strong, and as I grew older
I grew weaker and at last became so ill that life was a burden to me.
Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy was sent to me, in answer to prayer, as
I thought. I was a little afraid of all these new fads, as I thought
them, but I had not read far before I felt that I had found the truth
which makes us free. I was healed of stomach trouble, inward weakness,
and bilious attacks.
One physician said I might have to undergo an operation before I could
get well, but, thanks to this Truth, I have found that the only
operation needed was the regeneration of this so-called human mind by
learning to know God. In many cases I have been able to help myself and
others.
Words cannot express my thanks to Mrs. Eddy, and to all who are bringing
these great truths to the help of the whole world. - E. E. M.,
Huntington, W. Va.
A CONVINCING TESTIMONY
I became interested in Christian Science some five years ago, the
practical nature of its statements appealing to me, and I must say, at
the outset, that with my little experience I have found it all and more
than I ever dreamt of realizing on this plane of existence. I am
satisfied that I have found Truth. God is indeed to me an ever-present
help.
My little girl, some ten months old, was afflicted with constipation. It
was so severe I dreaded to go out anywhere with her, as I knew not when
she would be taken with a convulsion. I had tried all the usual remedies
in such cases, but it seemed to grow more obstinate. There was a
Christian Scientist living in the same house with us, a Scientist who
let her light shine, and while she said little, I felt the reflection of
Love. I had no knowledge of the teachings of Christian Science, save
that God was the physician at all times. In my own way I believed He was
all-powerful, and I said to my husband one day, "I am through with
medicine for baby. I am just going to leave her in God's care and see
what He will do. I have done all I can." I did as I said, laid my burden
at God's feet, and did not pick it up again. In two days the child was
perfectly natural, and has since been free from the trouble. She is now
six years of age. Some months later a second test came. She woke up at
nine o'clock at night crying and holding her ear. There was to sense a
gathering. I was alone. I took up my Science and Health and Bible, but
the more I worked the louder she screamed. Error kept suggesting
material remedies, but I said firmly: "No; I shall not go back to error.
God will help me." Just then I thought of my own fear, how excessive it
was, and a conversation I had with the Scientist who first voiced the
truth to me, came to mind. She said she always found it helpful to treat
herself and cast out her own fear before treating a patient. I put baby
down and again took up my Science and Health, and these were the words I
read: -
"Every trial of our faith in God makes us stronger. The more difficult
seems the material condition to be overcome by Spirit, the stronger
should be our faith and the purer our love. The Apostle John says:
'There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casteth out fear' " (Science
and Health, p. 410). I looked up, the crying had ceased, the child was
smiling, and in a few minutes asked to be put to bed. There has been no
further trouble of that kind.
I have since seen the power of Truth overcome error of many forms,
including croup, whooping-cough, tonsilitis, etc. I am thankful for all
these proofs, but far more grateful am I for the spiritual teaching to
love, to forgive, to curb my tongue, and cease my criticism. - M. A. H.,
Brockton, Mass.
HEALED PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY
I had been taking medicine continually for many years. Finally I was
taken suddenly ill and could not leave my room for about two months,
then I went away for three months, thinking that I should come back and
be able to continue my work. I improved very much, but the fear of quick
consumption was with my doctor and my family and friends, and I was
warned about the coming winter. Only too soon the fear manifested
itself. I had worked just three weeks when all the pains and aches
returned, and I had to go to bed as soon as I got home, so there was no
pleasure in living. My employer advised me to see my physician, and said
perhaps I should not work that winter. I then and there turned to
Christian Science. I could not afford to give up work and live away from
home, neither did I want to depend on doctors and medicine any longer. I
took the book and read it on my way to work, and at noon I lay down on a
couch instead of going out for luncheon and fell asleep. When I awoke I
was a different person, all pains and aches had gone, and I was free. I
was so happy I could hardly contain myself; to material sense it was
wonderful. As I walked I kept saying, "Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful,"
and tried to understand "the scientific statement of being" by repeating
portions at a time, then pondering over them. I read the book four times
in succession, and every time I found more and more to aid in the
understanding.
This healing was in October, l901, with no other help than Science and
Health, and soon I was relieved of other chronic ailments. In February I
was able to put away eyeglasses, which I had worn ten years and a half
for astigmatism. Oculists told me I would always have to wear them. A
month later my father asked me to help him, as he was suffering so much
from constipation, dyspepsia, and neuralgia. He had been subsisting on
bran, nearly starving himself until be was most miserable, and his limbs
seemed so cold that they were kept wrapped in blankets. I felt very
humble as he asked me, and told him I would have a practitioner help
him, as I had never treated any one; but he would not consent to have
any one but myself, and I finally told him I would try, but that he must
not hold Science responsible if he were not benefited, for my lack of
understanding, and not Science, would be at fault. At my request he read
Science and Health, ate whatever he wanted, and used no medicine in any
form. After two treatments I received word from him that he was healed
of that bondage of thirty years' standing. In view of all these signs
which followed my acceptance of Christian Science, I knew it must be
true. - R. L. A., Chicago, Ill.
A VOICE FROM THE SOUTH
I was delicate from childhood, and my parents did not think it was
possible for me to live more than a few years. I lived, however,
although there was not much improvement in my health. Travel and change
of climate brought only temporary relief, and the physicians gave me no
hope that I would ever be well.
As a last resort I began the study of Science and Health, and before I
had finished reading the book I realized that its author was divinely
commissioned to bring this spiritual message to a waiting world. Through
this reading my health was restored, and I was healed of one disease
that has been called incurable by all physicians.
For this, together with the greater and higher blessing of having the
spiritual fact of being unfolded to me, I am most grateful.
What shall be rendered for such benefits received and made possible by
the consecrated life of our revered Leader? Only by following the
teachings of our textbook, and by loving obedience to her gentle and
timely admonitions can we show our true sense of gratitude. - F. H. D.,
De Funiak Springs, Fla.
HEALED AFTER MUCH SUFFERING
A testimony given in the Journal led me to investigate Christian
Science, and I hope in return to be the means of leading some one else
to see the beauty of this saving truth, and to learn to know God aright
and man's relationship to Him. I know from experience that it is
prejudice and misapprehension of what Christian Science is, that keeps
many from enjoying the blessings it bestows.
I had been taking patent medicines for several years, and had been to
one of the best sanitariums in this country, but was not healed,
although I received some benefit, for which I shall always feel
grateful, for I know the physicians did all they could for me. I
sometimes thought I had exhausted all remedies, but did not give up, for
I felt there must be something to heal me if I could find it.
When in this state of mind Christian Science came to my notice, and
after reading several _Journals, _I purchased a copy of Science and
Health. I read for several days at odd times. I commenced to improve,
and in about a week I was healed of most of my ills, among which were
dyspepsia and nervous debility.
Although I had heard about Christian Science before, I had never heard
that the reading of the Christian Science textbook had ever effected the
healing of anybody. I commenced reading to find out what Christian
Science was, but was surprised to find myself improving, and was soon
assured that it was the theology of Science and Health that healed me,
just as it was the theology of Jesus that healed the sick.
It has also proved to me that there can be no Christian Science Church
that does not heal the sick and sinful, for healing follows as the
natural result of the teaching of Christian Science. The Bible has
become a new revelation to me, and I can read it much more
understandingly by the light received through the reading of Science and
Health. - A. F. M., Fairmont, Minn.
THROUGH GREAT TRIBULATIONS
When I attempt to make plain what Christian Science has done for me,
words fail me. For twenty years I was a constant sufferer, my spine
having been injured when I was very young. As a little child I suffered
so much that I would look up to the stars and beg God, who I thought
might be up there somewhere, to take me away from the earth, - I was so
tired. A great wall of pain seemed to separate me from the pleasures
enjoyed by others, and I could not explain how I felt, because no one
could understand. Years passed, and I saw my earthly happiness swept
away; my heart was broken and I did not know what to do. I cried for
help, day after day and night after night, although I was not sure what
God was, nor where He was. I only knew that I suffered, and was in need
of help, and that there was no earthly help for either mind or body. I
loved purity, truth, and right always, and this made evil seem a most
terrible reality. I was unable to cope with it, and so found myself in
despair. This was my condition when I commenced reading Science and
Health. I was ready for its message, and in about ten days there came a
wonderful insight into the truth which heals the sick and binds up the
broken-hearted. All pain left me, I had a glimpse of the new heavens and
the new earth, and was beginning to be fed by Love divine.
I had suffered for years with insomnia. That night I rested like a
child, and awoke the next morning well and happy. A flood of light daily
illumined the pages of the "little book," and the revelation it holds
for all came to my waiting heart. "The peace which passeth all
understanding" rested upon me, and joy too deep for words transformed
my life. My prayers were answered, for I had found God in Christian
Science.
The Bible, which I knew very little about, became my constant study, my
joy, and my guide. The copy which I bought at the time of my healing is
marked from Genesis to Revelation. It was so constantly in my hands for
three years that the cover became worn and the leaves loose, so it has
been laid away for a new one. Two and three o'clock in the morning often
found me poring over its pages, which grew more and more sacred to me
every day, and the help I received therefrom was wonderful, for which I
can find no words to express iny gratitude. - I. L., Los Angeles, Cal.
A HELPFUL TESTIMONY
Words cannot express my gratitude to God for Christian Science. When I
first read Science and Health, I had tried every remedy I had ever heard
of. I felt no change in mind or body that I was conscious of until I
read page 16 of the chapter on " Prayer," in Science and Health. The
first words of the "spiritual sense of the Lord's Prayer," telling of
our Father-Mother God, gave me a glimpse of heavenly light. I stopped
and reasoned, and remembered the teachings of Jesus. The truth of man's
spiritual being dawned on my consciousness. I realized I was not subject
to mortal laws, as I had been taught all my life. I could not explain
how I knew this, but I knew it. Through Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy had
given me what I had longed for all my life, - a Mother, a perfect
"Father-Mother God." I had known there was a great lack, and at that
time I believe the orthodox world had but half of the truth which Jesus
came to establish. When I read, "Give us this day our daily bread," and
its spiritual interpretation, my tears began to flow; all the years of
bitterness, hate, and fear melted away. I knew then, as I know now, that
nothing satisfies but Love. That day began the outward and inward
conscious healing, - mental and physical. There never came a doubt! I
absolutely knew that Christian Science was and is the truth. Money,
friends, materiality, are nothing beside the conscious knowledge of God,
man, and the universe.
I did not need treatment from any one, - Science and Health was so clear
and beautiful. I could not understand the Bible before, but I found it
illumined now that I had a little understanding of Christian Science.
For ten years I have not had to lie down in the daytime from any
sickness. I am now, and have been all these years, the picture of
perfect health. When I first read Science and Health I weighed one
hundred and four pounds; I now weigh over one hundred and sixty. This
physical health is not to be compared to my happiness, - my harmony that
nothing can take away, - because it is the gift of God. Nothing has
shown me the perversity of the human mind more than in its conclusions
in regard to my healing. Even when I felt and knew that I was healed,
people constantly said, because I was thin and delicate looking, " You
are not well, any one could look at you and know it." Now that I am
fleshy, they say, "You don't look as if you ever had a pain in all your
life. You could not have had consumption."
When I think what my life was before I had Christian Science, of the six
years of colds, suffering, and coughing, not to mention the unhappiness,
I want to "work, watch, and pray " for the Mind of Christ, that I may
work rightly in God's vineyard, and to know that in truth, what belongs
to one belongs to all, - that one God, one Life, Truth, and Love is all.
- A. C. L., Kansas City, Kans.
DESIRE FOR LIQUOR AND TOBACCO DISAPPEARED
I first heard of Christian Science four years ago. At that time drinking
and smoking were my comforters. I had no other companionship. I had
lived almost constantly from childhood in an evil atmosphere. Though I
was far from being satisfied with my condition, I failed to see how to
better it until I read Science and Health. I used occasionally to listen
to a sermon, but sermons did not give me any more comfort than I derived
from my pipe, hence I concluded that church-going could not satisfy me
and I preferred drinking and smoking. When I began to read Science and
Health, I saw it offered something substantial. After a few months'
study all desire for drinking and smoking disappeared. I did not give
them up; I made no sacrifices, I simply found something better. I might
mention that I had smoked ever since I can remember. I used to smoke
years before I left school, and, like most Englishmen, loved my pipe,
and would almost prefer to miss a meal rather than to go without my
smoke. I used to think it gave me comfort.
During my four years' study of Christian Science I have not spent a cent
for doctors or medicine, neither have I lost a day from my work on
account of sickness, which compares wonderfully with the previous four
years. I take a great interest and pleasure in reading the Bible and
studying the lessons in the _Quarterly_. The Bible used to be a most
mysterious book to me, but Science and Health makes it a most precious
book, making its meaning clearer, plainer, and simpler.
I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Mrs. Eddy and to the
friend who invited me to attend the service held in the Auditorium years
ago. I also wish to acknowledge the benefit I have had from the _Journal_
and the _Sentinel. _They have helped me wonderfully. If the value of
Science and Health and these publications were measured as business men
value things, by the results or benefits they bring, they certainly
would be priceless to me. It would be impossible to measure their value,
as I have got something from Science and Health that all the money in
the world could not buy. - H. P. H., Chicago, Ill.
AN EXPRESSION OF LOVING GRATITUDE
In the spring of 1893, while studying for the ministry, Science and
Health was placed in my hands, and the truth contained therein at once
became to me the pearl of great price. I literally devoured the book,
reading it about eighteen hours a day. Its originality was startling,
upsetting my preconceived opinions of God, man, and creation. Two
sentences especially appealed to me: "The foundation of mortal discord
is a false sense of man's origin" (p. 262), and, "For right
reasoning, there should be but one fact before the thought, namely,
spiritual existence " (p. 492). I had found the keynote to the Science
of being as taught in this marvellous book, and persevered until a
glimpse of the new heavens and new earth came, for the old were passing
away. With this spiritual uplifting came also physical health.
All my life had been spent in semi-invalidism, and I seemed destined to
a life of suffering. In three weeks after beginning Science and Health,
to my joyful surprise I found myself a well man, sound physically, and
uplifted spiritually. Life was being lived from a new basis, the old
things of personal sense were passing away and all things becoming new.
I learned that the infinite good is the one Friend upon whom we can call
at all times, an all-powerful, ever-present help in every time of
trouble; that His children are really governed in peace and harmony by
spiritual law, and as the right understanding of it is gained, the other
things soon follow, bringing a peace the human concept can never know.
For the last twelve years my whole time has been devoted to Christian
Science practice, and I have seen nearly every so-called incurable
disease healed by its beneficent influence. God bless our dear Leader!
She has set before us an open door, which no man can shut, and it is but
a question of time when the world will know her better and love her
more. - E. E. N., Washington, D. C.
HEALED OF BRIGHT'S DISEASE
August 18, 1902, I was taken down with what three doctors pronounced
Bright's disease, and they stated that I would not live a year, or if I
did succeed in living longer, I would be mentally unbalanced. On
December 6, 1902, my wife presented me with Science and Health as a
birthday gift, and it was indeed the best present I ever received. Since
that time I have been reading it and attending the Second Church here. I
have not used any medicine since, nor has any one in our home. I am in
the finest of health and have lost all my bad habits. This truth has
brought a great spiritual uplifting to all of us, and words cannot
express my gratitude to Mrs. Eddy and to all who have helped me to the
same. - T. V., Chicago, Ill.
FIBROID TUMOR DESTROYED
When quite young I was impressed that the Bible was not properly
interpreted by the preachers, for I could not conceive of a God of wrath
who was unjust enough to allow His little ones to suffer pain, misery,
and death. I had hope, however, that some day the truth would be
revealed to an awakening world, but little did I dream that even then
there was one of God's noble women who reflected sufficient purity and
holiness to entertain the "angel of his presence," and commune with the
true God.
I was believed to be predisposed to scrofula, so that I was not a strong
or attractive child, and my girlhood and womanhood were scarcely ever
free from dread of the laws of matter and lack of strength. The climax
was reached when a physician informed me, after weeks of treatment, that
I had a fibroid tumor, which required an operation. The conditions were
most trying and I was heartsick and discouraged when, in January, 1893, I
heard of Christian Science through a letter from a dear sister who had been
greatly benefited thereby, and I resolved to go at once to a
practitioner, for I believed it to be the long-lost truth that would
make me free. It meant a great effort and sacrifice for me to go to
Chicago at that time, but divine Love opened the way and I reached there
in March. I had been in my sister's home but a few days, reading Science
and Health almost constantly, when I asked her if I had not better have
treatment for the tumor, which had given me so much trouble. She said to
me, "You feel well, do you not?" I assured her that I never had felt so
well as I had since reaching there. "Well," she said with decision,
"your tumor is gone, for God never made it," and her statements were
true, for it has never been heard of from that day. Since then I have
been healed of chronic sore throat, hay fever, and other troubles, and I
know that Christian Science is the truth. - B. W. S., Coldwater, Mich.
LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS
I have received so much benefit from the testimonies in the _Sentinel
_and _Journal _that I send mine, hoping it may cheer some struggling
heart. I was reared by kind and loving Christian parents and was a
member of an orthodox church for over twenty years, but I was never
satisfied. I was filled with fear and bound down by the false gods of
this world, - sin, disease, and poverty; consequently every way I
turned, and in everything I attempted to do, I was met with
disappointment and failure; but God was leading me into a different
life.
My interest was first awakened to Christian Science about thirteen years
ago, and I have been a willing disciple ever since. Through the reading
of Science and Health I was healed of chronic catarrh and laryngitis,
and it also enabled me to lay off my glasses. Christian Science has not
only helped me mentally, morally, and physically, but the greatest
blessing of all is the spiritual uplifting which enabled me to know that
God is both able and willing to care for His children, if we are but
willing to do our part and bear the cross which, though it seems heavy
at times, always brings a sure reward. Christian Science has not only
helped me, but it has enabled me to help others.
The Bible is a new book to me. I now see what Jesus meant when he said,
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest."
My heart goes out in gratitude to Mrs. Eddy for the work she has done
and is still doing for the world, and to God I am most grateful that He
has guided me into the truth, that I may have life, and have it more
abundantly. - Mrs. M. M., Chicago, Ill.
A PRICELESS BOON
I have long desired to express my gratitude for what Christian Science
has done, through reading Science and Health, for me and my family. I
was healed of profanity, the tobacco habit, and a bad temper, through
the understanding that man is the image and likeness of God. I was also
healed of kidney disease and rheumatism. What surprised me most,
however, was this; I had had one finger thrown out of place some fifteen
years before. It was crooked, but it became straight and useful. A bone
in my foot had also been broken, leaving a bunch, which disappeared
after I studied Christian Science and received class instruction. I am
an entirely well man and for this I am very grateful. I am also glad
that I have learned enough of Truth and love to be able to heal others.
I wish to express my thankful appreciation of our Leader, also of the
_Sentinel_ and the _Journal. _- N. R. F., Salina, Kans.
HEALED OF CONSUMPTION AND ASTHMA
It is a pleasure to acknowledge the great benefits which have come to me
through Christian Science. It is nearly ten years since I began the
investigation of the subject by borrowing a copy of Science and Health.
I had become a hopeless sufferer from asthma, - the disease being so
aggravated at times as to make breathing almost impossible. I was also a
victim of that dread disease, consumption. It was hereditary, nearly all
my family on both sides having passed away with it. I took up Christian
Science very much as a drowning man catches at a straw. However, I was
much interested as soon as I began to understand it, and having read the
book nearly all my waking hours for a few weeks, I became so much better
and so convinced of its truth, that myself and wife destroyed all the
medicines in the home, and have never since used any remedy except
Christian Science. I continued to study and to put into practice the
teaching as best I knew, and was restored to health in a few months.
Prior to my investigation of Christian Science I had been from boyhood
an outspoken infidel, had read that class of literature extensively, and
had no desire for anything of a religious nature, - the orthodox
teaching never having appealed to me as a rational exposition of an
all-wise God. I now have no more doubt of the truth of the teaching of
the great Way-shower, Jesus of Nazareth, than I doubt the correctness of
the basic law of mathematics or music. I have no doubt whatever that
Christian Science saved me from the grave, and thus proved a most
practicable and efficient help in time of greatest need. However great
my physical suffering has been, I can but feel glad that through it the
door of consciousness was opened to let in the light of Truth. Thus I
have progressed a little way in the knowledge of God, good, as revealed
in Christian Science. - C. B., Webb City, Mo.
A GRATEFUL TESTIMONY
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. "
This has been proven to me in every way. When Christian Science came to
me, I was a wreck, physically, mentally, and financially; but since the
reading of Science and Health turned my thought toward the light, I have
found that, as far as I am willing to receive the word and live it, all
comforts are supplied me. I am especially grateful for the spiritual
help. I know that things which I did and thought last year I would not
do or think this year, and am satisfied. Through the careful and
prayerful study of Science and Health I have been lifted from sickness
to health, from sorrow to peace, from lack to plenty, and, the most
beautiful of all, from darkness to light. - Mrs. H. S. C., Seattle, Wash.
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