Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures Part 91

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 eyegla.s.ses, 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 pract.i.tioner 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 grat.i.tude. - 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 G.o.d aright and man's relations.h.i.+p 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 a.s.sured 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 G.o.d, 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 pa.s.sed, 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 G.o.d 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 pa.s.seth all understanding" rested upon me, and joy too deep for words transformed my life. My prayers were answered, for I had found G.o.d 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 grat.i.tude. - I. L., Los Angeles, Cal.

A HELPFUL TESTIMONY

Words cannot express my grat.i.tude to G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d." 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d. 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 G.o.d's vineyard, and to know that in truth, what belongs to one belongs to all, - that one G.o.d, 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 companions.h.i.+p. 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 grat.i.tude 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 GRAt.i.tUDE

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 G.o.d, 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 pa.s.sing 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 pa.s.sing 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. G.o.d 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., Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C.

HEALED OF BRIGHT'S DISEASE

August 18, 1902, I was taken down with what three doctors p.r.o.nounced 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 grat.i.tude 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d's n.o.ble women who reflected sufficient purity and holiness to entertain the "angel of his presence," and commune with the true G.o.d.

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 pract.i.tioner, 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 a.s.sured her that I never had felt so well as I had since reaching there. "Well," she said with decision, "your tumor is gone, for G.o.d 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 G.o.ds 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 G.o.d 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 gla.s.ses. 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 G.o.d 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 grat.i.tude to Mrs. Eddy for the work she has done and is still doing for the world, and to G.o.d 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 grat.i.tude 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 G.o.d. 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 cla.s.s 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 pa.s.sed 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 cla.s.s 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 G.o.d. 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 G.o.d, 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.