Article August 12, 1905 Issue

A True Word

Springfield (Mass.) Homestead

There may be cranks among these Scientists, as in every religious sect, but it is by no means made up of cranks, for some of the most prominent people in the city are devout worshipers and are regular attendants at both the midweek and the Sunday meetings. The congregation of this church is very cosmopolitan. It embraces people in every walk of life, from lawyers and manufacturers to the Jews on Ferry Street. There are laborers and merchants, not their families alone, but the laborers and merchants themselves. In fact, it is a misapprehension that women Christian Scientists greatly outnumber the men worshipers. At a Wednesday night testimony meeting fully as many men as women will be found in the audience, and they testify as frequently.

While the testimony given at the Wednesday evening services is remarkable and almost unbelievable, it must be given consideration, for it is offered by serious, upright men and women, and not fakirs. When a man gets up and testifies that after wearing glasses thirty years, his eyes were cured by Christian Science and that now he no longer wears them and can see better than ever before in his life, one becomes skeptical until he sees the earnestness and sincerity of the man himself. These people are absolutely sincere, and take their religion into their every-day life, as worshipers of the generally accepted religions do not. When a woman testifies that, after six surgeons had declared she must be an invalid for life, a few weeks of Christian Science treatment cured her absolutely, one gulps hard to swallow such a statement. But when the woman is intelligent, womanly, alert, and active, her words must be given serious attention. These are actual testimonies which were given at one of the Wednesday night meetings, in addition to many others of a startling nature. The congregation listens placidly and calmly to these statements, sure that the religion can work miracles.

The Scientists claim that their religion is as able to cure organic diseases as it is mental affliction. They are constantly fighting the popular theory that it is mental distress alone for which it has healing power. "Spirit controls everything," is their watchword. Healing is only one part of the religion. The other is a sort of striving for an ideal life, and the pushing out of selfishness with unselfishness. The standard of living seems to grip hold of the young members of the church as well as the adults. At a recent testimony meeting a girl, not much more than a child, got up and stated with clearness and force what Christian Science meant to her, and without any cant or prating.

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