Testimony of Healing December 2, 1905 Issue

I have long since felt that I should express, through the...

Sallie P. Boda

I have long since felt that I should express, through the Sentinel, my deep sense of gratitude to God, and to Mrs. Eddy, for the continuance of my existence and for seven comfortable, happy years. When I was about ten years of age I had a severe attack of measles, which was followed by one ailment after another, until I was obliged to leave school. For some years I had pretty fair health, but always took cold easily and was troubled much with constipation. As I grew older these conditions were terribly aggravated, and after passing through extreme sorrow and trouble, of both a domestic and financial nature, I became almost a confirmed invalid. First one organ and then another was involved; my liver scarcely acted at all, and my stomach was in such a condition that one physician thought I had cancer. I suffered the most intense agony from taking a drink of water or eating a bit of bread. I passed through the most heroic treatment, and finally went to a sanitarium and was operated on, after which I think every apparatus in the whole institution was used on me, but with very little beneficial effect. I was told that perhaps I would not feel the full benefits of this torture immediately, but within a year I would be perfectly well. Before the close of that year I was in a worse condition than I had ever been, and was thoroughly discouraged.

One day I received a letter from my youngest brother, who was living in Boston at that time and had been greatly benefited by Christian Science, asking me to try it. I wrote him, No, indeed, I was not going to try anything more, and the sooner I got out of the way the better for everybody. He wrote me again in regard to it, and again I refused to be any more care or expense. I had never heard of Christian Science, so far as I could remember, and of course knew nothing of its healing effect. Then he sent me a copy of Science and Health and said that he had secured treatment for me from a practitioner whom he knew. When I began to read Science and Health I was so weak, mentally as well as physically, that I could not understand much of what I was reading, but I read and read, although I was so possessed with fear that I was afraid to think, afraid to pray. I was like a straw out on the ocean, tossed from billow to billow of mortal thought, having lost sight of the old landmarks and not yet in sight of the new. Oh, what a sense of utter abandonment! I wrote the practitioner all about it; and she answered, "Continue to read Science and Health, the truth is destroying the old sense; you are always safe in saying the Lord's Prayer, and in making every honest, pure desire known to God." I tried to obey, and was relieved almost instantly of the suffering from food. The constipation was overcome in four days. The rest of my healing was slow, but I now see that had it been quick, I might not have known any more of this Science. I have since overcome many troubles with the understanding of this blessed truth that makes us free. Christian Science has carried me over many bridges, and I would say to those who become discouraged, Hold on—never mind what error says—hold on to God, and He will guide you safely over the stormy waters of error into the calm of peace and harmony. I often wonder how we can be discouraged when we realize what our dear Leader has encountered and overcome for us, to show us the way. Had she not withstood the fiery darts of error without flinching, we would not have Christian Science and would still be serving other gods without knowing it.

Mrs. Sallie P. Boda, Baltimore, Md.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

During the summer of 1889 my mother was at Eureka Springs,...