Testimony of Healing October 23, 1909 Issue

I was a sufferer from sleeplessness and a stomach disorder...

Hannah G. Dampman

I was a sufferer from sleeplessness and a stomach disorder which dated back a long period of years. In fact I had never been well and strong even as a child, and my ailments were believed to be hereditary. I tried all the material remedies of which I knew, and spent several months in two different sanitariums. I would seem to be better for a time, and then would be worse than before trying these means. In the winter of 1907 I was apparently in a very bad condition; I slept very poorly and whatever I ate gave me great discomfort. I was discouraged, despondent, and wellnigh desperate, for I could not see any means of escape. One night, during this time, when I could not sleep, I said to myself that if there was a hell I was experiencing it.

About this time Christian Science was brought to my notice by a friend, who had known of some wonderful cures which had been wrought by it. This friend urged me very earnestly and persistently to try Science. At first I was quite indignant, and said in no uncertain language that I would have nothing to do with it ; that while I was aware that I had a number of different ailments, I did not have a disordered imagination but because there was nothing else to try, and because I was so wretched, I finally decided to try Christian Science. The sleeplessness was overcome in a very short time, but the stomach difficulty was slower to yield. I seemed to be so wedded to the thought that material means were needed, that I had to be divorced from this belief. I had to know that God is my life, that in Him I live, move, and have my being. The practitioner told me that if I was inclined to be discouraged I should read the first chapter of Joshua. Sometimes I read it twice a day in those first weeks. It would seem after I read it that I had something to hold to it was my sheet anchor. Finally the symptoms began to drop away, one after another, as I came to an understanding of the truth, and after several months had elapsed I was healed.

When I first came to Christian Science I was very desirous that I should be healed quickly, but now I am glad I was not, for if I had been I am sure I should have forgotten all about it in a short time -should have forgotten even to be glad and thankful; But because I had to strive and work and watch and pray, and still do so,I shall not "forget." We know that this is the same truth that Christ Jesus taught nineteen centuries ago, and enjoined on his disciples to preach, and it is just as efficacious today as it was then, if it is understood aright. It is the truth that heals the sick and sinning.

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