Article July 18, 1908 Issue

THE POWER OF TRUTH

JESSIE WENTZ THOMPSON.

I WISH to give expression to the gratitude I have felt for our Leader's Message, "Hear, O Israel," which was published in the Sentinel of Dec. 14. 1907. When I read it my heart was filled to overflowing with joy and peace, and I thought, "Thank God, death will never seem quite the same to me again!" Two days later I was crossing over to New York on a ferry crowded with Christmas shoppers. Just as we started out I heard some one say that a woman on board was dying, and men and women were hurrying out of the cabin to get away from the sad sight. There were calls on every side for a physician, for stimulants, and smelling salts. In all that crowd, strange to say, there was no material help; only great fear and confusion were manifested.

I knew it was my duty and privilege right then and there to prove that God is Life, and I silently declared that He fills all space, and that it is impossible for anything but life to be manifested where God is. To me that ferry-boat was illumined with the light of Love and Truth; I knew no shadow of doubt or fear. A gentleman sitting next to me kept saying, "Why does not some one get some whisky?" and after a little I began to realize that his question was addressed to me, so I turned to him and said, "The woman does not need any whisky." "She will die," he went on. "Have no fear," I answered; "she will not die, she will live." A gentleman had spread his fur-lined coat on the floor to lay her on, but as they bent over to lift her, she opened her eyes, looked up at them, and smiled, and in a few moments all saw that the danger was past.

The gentleman beside me, who had been so urgent in his calls for whisky, turned to me and said, "Pardon me, madam, but you were so positive that this woman would not die, would you mind telling me how you knew?" "I am beginning to understand that God is Life," I replied; "that He fills the universe, and thus there can be no room for death." His next question was, "What do you think God is?" I gave him the answer as Mrs. Eddy has defined it on page 465 of Science and Health. When he said that he did not understand this, I replied, "Neither did I, a few years ago. I thought God was unjust in sending sickness and death upon us, and I hated Him; but now I know and love Him." "I would give a great deal," said he, "to be able to look as calm and happy as you did through this dreadful experience. Do you believe that God heals the sick? I have been sick for twenty years, and would like to be well." "Yes," I replied, "God does heal the sick. Get a copy of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy; study it, and you will become healthier and happier, and understand why and how." He walked by my side off the ferry and out to the trolley cars, and as he left me he said he would get the book and read it.

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