"Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me,...

William A. Eldredge

"Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.... Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases." How many times these words of the psalmist have been repeated, but with what an imperfect sense of all they actually mean to us. We all like to hear the expression of gratitude, but the debt which we owe to God, good, for what is ours by divine right, far transcends the ordinary definition of the word gratitude. We need to live it, not express it by words only.

In return for such understanding which has come to me since I first learned of Christian Science I feel it is time that I added my testimony to the long list of those already published, in the hope that it will help some others to seek and to find the truth. In the first place, through that belief of superabundance of knowledge so common among mortals, I thought of Christian Science and those connected with it as hardly worth consideration, but I knew nothing about it. At that time, my eyes were closed utterly to the greatness and goodness of our Leader who, standing alone, has proved to the world what it means to love one's neighbor.

About seven years ago I met a young student through whom I first got a true glimpse of the divine Principle of Christian Science. The result was that the scales fell from my eyes and the light of Truth shone as I had never known it before. For many years I had tried to solve various problems,—to make "things" coincide with "reason,"—but I always found myself exactly where I started from. I knew there must be an answer somewhere, for I could never make it seem reasonable that God could maintain good and evil on substantially the same basis. It was the conflict within between truth and error, but truth was conquering daily the false material beliefs, and it was with intense delight that I found the answers to a great number of questions coming to my consciousness daily. I was beginning to learn the meaning of Jesus' words, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." With this speech of the "new tongue," I was completely deprived of the ability to believe much that I had believed, and gerat was my joy and relief that something of the truth had been revealed to me. From that time I have daily gained more understanding, until now I see how utterly false and hopeless are the commonly accepted theories ever to free any one from bondage.

I did not become interested at first through physical healing, although I have had occasion to prove the efficacy of divine Love to heal. An irregularity of heart action was healed in one treatment, after I had doctored for it for two or three years, finally getting to the point where I was taking a powerful drug, but not being helped by it. That was a glorious revelation. Later I had a severe attack of what appeared to be boils which were exceedingly ugly looking; and while they did not disappear immediately, by having help from a practitioner I was enabled to do each day all that was required of me, and enjoyed a relief from pain which under the old treatment and former belief would have been very great. Other cases of healing have I had, but a steady mental healing is going on, for which I am more than thankful, as therein lies the true healing.

When we know more of man's relation to God, that He is everywhere and never makes discord of any kind, when we rise into that hiher state of consciousness which reveals to us the true source of our strength, to dwell "in the secret place of the most High," we shall find more of man's birthright made manifest and experience the glorious truth of his God-given dominion. It is much to be thankful for, this revelation in our day, that the power of Truth is just the same and as great as it was in Jesus' time, and can be used in the same way, as thousands can testify who have been as it were snatched from the grave.

I am indeed grateful that, through the teaching of Mrs. Eddy, this revelation has come to me, as it has to a daily increasing number. She has rolled away the stones of both the old and the modern theological teaching, dispelling the obscurity that has pervaded it for centuries, and thus enabling us to know more of man's true relation to God, to know something of Him as He is. The prophecies are fulfilled in Christian Science, and Christ's coming is continual to our awakening consciousness, not delayed until some distant day in the future. Time has no future, for it is the eternal now. Surely what some have found, all may find, for God is no respecter of persons—those who seek shall surely find.—William A. Eldredge, Boston, Mass.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

ADMISSION TO MEMBERSHIP IN THE MOTHER CHURCH

February 24, 1912

Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit