Testimony of Healing October 14, 1911 Issue

Remembering that "a just acknowledgement of Truth and...

Alva B. Ammerman

Remembering that "a just acknowledgement of Truth and of what it has done for us is an effectual help" (Science and Health, p. 372), I venture to relate some of my experiences as a student of Christian Science. In the autumn of 1892 the subject of Christian Science was first presented to me. The name seemed singular, but withal inspiring. When it was explained that it was the very teaching and practice of Jesus of Nazareth, which had been discovered by Mrs. Eddy, I found myself unhesitatingly accepting the statement as true, and glad that it was true.

The following winter I entered a class taught by a lady in a near-by city, but spiritual perception was so overcast by clouds of care and consciousness of sin that the seed did not bring forth any visible results for a number of years. Yet during all this period I had not the slightest doubt that Christian Science was demonstrable truth ; it was only that I had failed to grasp its spiritual import. At this time something urged me to find a member of the class referred to, and I spent a day in the search before finding her. After a few minutes she suddenly said, "Are you still studying Science and Health?" In reply I told her that I had not seen the book for some time. When she spoke again it was earnestness that impressed me deeply. "The best thing for you to do is to get that book and go to studying it again," she said. In a few days I gave up the work in which I was engaged, and eagerly began the study of the volume so dear to all true Christian Scientists.

For a number of years I had been in bondage to the use of tobacco, and when I learned from Science and Health that its use was not in line with the teachings of Christian Science, it came as a great shock, because I had an intense longing to be a Christian Scientist, gained from my close study of the text-book. Then the trial came. Which shall it be? "No man can serve two masters," said Jesus. The Christ won, and the desire for the weed was forever cast out. That was over eleven years ago, and I have been entirely free from that bondage ever since. After the first three days I felt no ill effects from not having the usual sedative.

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