Testimony of Healing April 20, 1912 Issue

"Why, it is a practical religion!" These were the words...

Newton C. Gillham

"Why, it is a practical religion!" These were the words which broke from my lips when a Christian Science practitioner explained to me for the first time this teaching. My words were not studied but spontaneous, and came with the realization of what I was glad to know, to wit, that the Christian religion is as demonstrable today as it was nineteen hundred years ago, when Jesus and his disciples went about Judea casting out evil and healing both sin and sickness. But, whatever blessing I might have received or whatever understanding I might have had of Christian Science at that time, I allowed twelve years of doubt, of uncertainty, of sickness and distress to intervene before I finally accepted it and demonstrated it to be the truth which Christ Jesus brought to mankind. Because my healing was slow, I allowed myself, upon becoming isolated from those of my friends who were Christian Scientists, to drift back to materia medica, but in all those twelve years I retained a warm spot in my heart for Christian Science, and would not allow any one to assail it without a rebuke from me. The "scientific statement of being" (Science and Health, p. 468) became a part of my life and I repeated it almost daily.

It was in July, 1909, that I again entered a Christian Science practitioner's office, seeking help. I had been subject to rheumatism for fifteen years or more, and had gone from bad to worse, struggling all the time against the dreaded disease, but at the end of this time, in November, 1906, the talons of my ancient enemy were sunk deep into my flesh, so to speak, and I was dragged from the practice of my chosen profession, the law, to a sick-bed, where I spent months of intense suffering. The following spring and summer I was able to go about the house on crutches. It is needless to say that I followed the course of all who suffer from rheumatism; I took the doctor's prescriptions willingly—and often; when these were exhausted I resorted to other medicines; one system of healing claimed me for a time, and mineral baths were tried to no avail. In October, in a weakened and emaciated condition, I went to Arizona, where it was said that because of the mild climate I would receive great benefit and recruit my strength. At the end of three months, however, a renewed and vigorous attack compelled me to enter a sanitarium, where I stayed for ten months, at the end of which time I returned to this city. I reached here in November, thirteen months after leaving, and went to work. I got along very well for about eight months, when I was again overtaken by my old enemy, to which was added sciatic rheumatism. The latter phase of the disease had troubled me only from about the time I went to Arizona, and it was the last to yield to the gentle touch of Truth.

It was at this time that I again sought aid from Christian Science, and then it was that I realized the worth, the truth of the words of our beloved Leader, wherein she says (Science and Health, p. 377): "Invalids flee to tropical climates in order to save their lives, but they come back no better than when they went away. Then is the time to cure them through Christian Science, and prove that they can be healthy in all climates, when their fear of climate is exterminated." I improved rapidly for three weeks; in fact the improvement was so marked that I was overjoyed. I felt that all I had to do was to furnish the malady and a willingness to be healed, and the practitioner would do the work. I read Science and Health and the other literature on Christian Science offered me, in a most perfunctory sort of way. I did not allow it to interfere with my current reading, especially the daily papers. I said my progress was rapid for three weeks; but at the end of that time I began to go down in health, and again suffered from the illness. A few days later I was down sick in bed and unable to move my legs except as I lifted them with my hands.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

"Why, it is a practical religion!" These were the words...

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access