My heart is filled with gratitude for the help which...

H. H. S.

My heart is filled with gratitude for the help which Christian Science has been to me in every way, and I must express it. It is just two years since I first heard what Christian Science really is, — the religion of Jesus Christ. Before that, I had seen only the slighting remarks about Christian Scientists and our dear Leader in the daily papers, so I was as ready as any one to judge unrighteous judgment. The first testimony I ever heard of the healing work of Christian Science, was from a cousin, who had been healed in one treatment of life-long constipation, after having tried many doctors and medicines, for years. She was also healed of rupture later on.

I seemed to be very weary and heavy laden, and so determined to see a practitioner as soon as we returned to Boston. Our little traveling party consisted of my mother, my little two-year-old son, and myself. My mother was taken violently ill on the steamer going to Maine, and was under the doctor's care and in bed during our entire stay of about two weeks. That time seems like a nightmare. It was only by exerting all my will-power, that I was able to do what I had to do wait on her and the baby, as I had felt myself, and been looked upon by others as a semiinvalid for several years, — a result of five months spent in bed with nervous prostration. I seemed to have no strength to speak of, and an almost constant pain, and I had suffered for years with constipation, which was supposed to be hereditary. I had also been a victim of chronic bronchitis and sore throat. I had suffered from many attacks of grip, and had worn glasses constantly, for over eight years, for inflammation of the optic nerve and partial destruction of sight. Even with the glasses on, I suffered greatly with my eyes, and traveling and sight-seeing gave me very little pleasure. Looking out of a car window or reading in a moving vehicle, had been prohibited; and disobedience, for only a few minutes, was followed by sharp pains.

When I was a small girl, my aim was to be a physician when I grew up, as there seemed to be so much trouble and suffering, and I thought there was but that one way of bringing even a little comfort or help to those who so much needed it. When this ambition was combated by members of the family, the profession of trained nurse was looked forward to. When about sixteen years of age, I tried to enter the New York Hospital on probation, so as to get the training for my life-work. Turned away because of my youth, I went to our family physician and begged him to help me get the training I wanted. He said that I was not strong enough and would never be able to do it. I cried bitterly, and felt that there was no chance for me to be of any use in the world. The suffering, care, anxiety, and want that were so apparent on all sides, and the frequent accidents and terrible disasters, made me often question. "Does the Bible really tell what God is? Jesus taught that He is Love, and the Scriptures declare that He made all and is all powerful. Either He is cruel and unmindful of the sufferings and struggles of His creatures, or He has started His creation going, like a big machine, and cannot interfere to save His children, for fear of spoiling the mechanism. He seems to be governed by the laws which He has made."

Any one can imagine my joy when I found that Jesus' teaching was for all time, for us as well as for those who heard his voice; and that there are people who now understand his instructions, in part at least, and who can do the work that he did and that he promised his followers should do.

When the Scientist told me this, and referred me to some of the many promises in the Bible, and the constant healing which Jesus did, I thought, "This is what I have been looking for since I was a small child. It seems reasonable to suppose that Jesus' life-work and supreme sacrifice should have had a more far-reaching influence than we have been taught to suppose. These people are proving their faith by their 'works.' " To be well and strong, and to be able to do the work which we all see our brothers so much need, is indeed worth the struggle we have to make to get out of our false sense of life. As many other testimonies have borne witness, we are all glad to receive the physical healing, but the spiritual uplifting, the understanding of the truth that makes free. is beyond words to express

I neglected to say that three days after first taking treatment, I took off my glasses, which I had expected to wear always, and have not worn them since. One pair I took to the oculist to see if he would buy them from me. After being asked as to why I thought I never would need them again, the glasses were examined and I was told that any one who had that trouble never could be healed; but I am free, and I know it. My heart is now full of love for a God who is all-powerful good, and to Christ Jesus, who came to waken man from this dream of life and intelligence in matter, and to our revered Leader who was pure enough and humble enough to receive and give this Christian Science to a weary and suffering world. I also want to thank the practitioner who so lovingly led me out of darkness into the sunshine of divine Love.
Mrs. H. H. S., Hastings-on-Hudson, N. Y.

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