Article December 28, 1912 Issue

The testimony meeting was crowded, and every seat in...

Yorkshire Post

The testimony meeting was crowded, and every seat in First Church of Christ, Scientist, Cavendish road, Leeds, was occupied. Curiously enough, the women did not outnumber the men to any great extent, and all appeared equally absorbed. There was nothing hysterical or emotional about those who had gathered together to testify to the benefits they had derived from the study of Christian Science; rather they all spoke with a quiet, earnest sincerity that appeared to carry conviction to the congregation. As one speaker put it, "On the subject one feels deepest, one can say the least." And that marked the tone of all who stood up to relate their personal experiences. They did not rant or rave, or strive to heighten an effect by a flight of oratory, or use a text as a tag, but each told a plain unvarnished tale, a tale that always had a happy ending. Even as I pondered over this, another speaker rose to give testimony. She had, it appeared, been cured of some malady by reading the literature of Christian Science. Her husband had been so impressed that he, too, had "read, marked, and inwardly digested," with the result that their material wants had become more assured. In other words, the luck had changed; Christian Science had spelt success.

Then, something that I could have only noticed in a subconscious manner, became vivid as a flash of lightning in the night. Why, of course, that was why the place differed in some subtle way from the meeting-places of other denominations. True, the church was decorated in the simple, severe manner of many mission halls, but yet there was something about it that suggested comparative affluence. The congregation, they also, wore a quietly prosperous air. It was not that they were fashionably dressed, rather that they were well groomed—the men especially so; middleaged gentlemen who had evidently determined not to "let themselves go," and had kept Father Time under during the second round. As the speakers gave their experiences, I noticed with surprise how young they looked after, as some would express it, "all they had gone through." They had evidently reached a place of placid waters, and their faces reflected the calm.

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