Testimony of Healing April 3, 1909 Issue

In 1895 I attended an informal gathering of Christian Scientists...

Frances Ellingham

In 1895 I attended an informal gathering of Christian Scientists and heard a lady give her experience, and also answer some questions which were asked her. I had no preconceived notions of Christian Science, for I had never heard of it until that day, but I was impressed only with what seemed to me to be the unreasonableness of the teachings. From that time on I was ready to criticize and condemn, conceitedly imagining that I knew what Christian Science taught.

Ten years later a dear friend, who had been given by the physicians only a few hours to live, was most marvelously healed in Christian Science, and her experience roused my curiosity. Being of an investigating turn of mind, I resolved to find out what had wrought the change. To my question she only answered, "Christian Science," but I responded, "That doesn't mean anything. I want to know what did it." Handing me a copy of the text-book she said, "They say it is all in that book; take it home and see if you can find it." I took the book home and immediately commenced to read it, with the aid of a Bible and a dictionary. It was a revelation to me, and I could not leave it. I lived alone and studied almost day and night. At the time I was wearing an elastic stocking from hip to toes, and had been told by my physician that the conditions were very serious, that no human power could prevent a rupture of the veins, and that there was nothing known to materia medica which would heal them. On removing the pressure of the stocking at night, sharp pains kept me restless and fearful. I had no thought of Christian Science doing anything for me physically, for I did not know that one could be healed by reading Science and Health, but one morning I awoke to realize that the entire night had been spent in peaceful sleep. I threw off the coverings expecting to find the veins broken, but my astonishment can be imagined at finding the limb healed and as normal as that of a child.

Since that experience I have devoted most of my time to the study of Christian Science, and am very grateful to the Giver of "every good gift" for perfect health, and for some knowledge of how to help others. My gratitude also goes out to Mrs. Eddy, for I realize that but for her marvelous perception of the spiritual import of the Scriptures, and her unfailing determination to teach it by pen, precept, and example, thousands would still be in darkness who now behold the light. As we learn from Science and Health to separate, in our thought, the mortal from the immortal, and to know that God's works are without beginning or end, we gain a clearer sense of the Christianly scientific teaching. Truth is eternal, therefore that only is true which endures through all eternity. The consciousness of evil being transient, it logically follows that it is not true consciousness and that the only true consciousness is a consciousness of the good, the eternal. The true man, being now a child of God,—a reflection of the true consciousness, or Mind,—cannot reflect anything not found in God, and the seeming consciousness of evil is but a counterfeit that must be destroyed—put out of circulation—to give place to the genuine, the real. This has been a most helpful thought to me and I hope it may help others.

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