Testimony of Healing September 23, 1905 Issue

Some seem to come into Christian Science naturally, and...

J. Jerome Hayes

Some seem to come into Christian Science naturally, and to manifest the truth in every way, with only a few weeks' study of Science and Health, while others struggle on and on for years, gaining inch by inch, and even then at times apparently slipping back to conditions experienced at first. My way in Christian Science, for three years and a half, was an almost constant struggle. At the first of that priceless book, Science and Health, I could accept the fundamental teaching, as it seemed reasonable and logical and founded entirely on the Bible. Other phases of it I could not understand, but I found, by continued reading and study, that Mrs. Eddy had reasoned from a spiritual basis, while I was reasoning from a material basis. I had suffered from indigestion since I was a boy, in practically all its miserable forms. This ailment has been overcome through Christian Science. There are still times when I am reminded that I once had the trouble, but never to such an extent that I am not soon its master. Last winter, when confined to the house with an acute attack, I feel sure that I was saved from a long course of fever. I was in a state of almost utter collapse, and exceedingly nervous, but Divine power, as explained by Mrs. Eddy, brought me safely through.

If I have learned anything of this great truth, it is that in order to avail ourselves of its healing power, our lives must come into harmony with Christ's teachings. It is when I struggle to gain the mastery over the human tendency to sin, that I am conscious of the right to claim the promises of God. This has meant the giving up of idols, many of which seemed very necessary at first, and some so subtle that I was shocked when I realized their hold on me. Thank God, I can now realize most of the time that I am not fighting my battles alone, and there is not a day in which I do not try to make my life less material and more Christlike. Christian Science has made me a happier man, for it has banished many doubts and fears, and I have a better understanding of what God is. I have learned to read and understand the Bible, and to know that a belief in death is not an essential to life and happiness.

J. Jerome Hayes, New York, N. Y.

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