Testimony of Healing May 17, 1913 Issue

Some time ago it was my privilege to hear of a remarkable...

Edith L. Clendenin

Some time ago it was my privilege to hear of a remarkable case of healing through Christian Science, and during the conversation the thought came to me that no one could hear such a testimony without being benefited and feeling thankful that there is, and always has been and always will be, a God who is omnipotent. It reminded me of my own healing; and while I had not forgotten it by any means, and am no less grateful now than when healed, the spiritual insight gained through the study of Christian Science is so much greater than the physical healing that the latter seems small in comparison. Realizing, however, how much good the testimony referred to has done, together with other testimonies, I thought perhaps mine might help some one, and so I send it.

About eight years ago I had a complete breakdown, and from that time until I went to a Christian Science practitioner for help three years ago, I was under a doctor's care most of the time and taking medicine every day. I wore glasses about four years, and double glasses part of that time, and even then was unable to read, sew, or practise an hour at a time without suffering intensely the balance of the day, and it was not an unusual thing for me to suffer several days. I also experienced great fatigue after very little exertion. We consulted two of the best specialists in Buffalo and Chicago, but instead of improving I grew worse, until at the time I went for Christian Science treatment I was in such a condition that I would gladly have died; but now I know that I have been born again, into the new life which is gained through spiritual understanding,—the right conception of God and our relation to Him and to one another,—and through purification from all error, a cleansing which destroys the belief in sin, sickness, and death, thus demonstrating the truth which makes free. All who have been helped or healed through Christian Science realize, to some extent at least, that "now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." Before we knew the truth about God and man and the universe, we were asleep in the darkness of despair, discouragement, or sickness.

Every time we overcome an evil condition with the understanding of good, every time we master hate with love, every time we know the truth about any erroneous condition, we are making progress, we are growing, working our way up and out of the mortal into the spiritual self, into the consciousness of all good, the mental harmony which is heaven. Mrs. Eddy says, "Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love—the kingdom of heaven—reign within us, and sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear" (Science and Health, p. 248). My glasses were discarded after the first treatment, and I have never used them since, though I have used my eyes sometimes both day and night, under very trying conditions, without the slightest inconvenience. About two months after my first knowledge of Christian Science I took two weeks' treatment. I was engaged in orchestral work, something I had not so much as dreamed of taking up again; but I did it without any sense of fatigue, thoroughly enjoying it, and doing it with less effort than ever before. Truly, "as thy days, so shall thy strength be." The relief from physical suffering and the relaxation from mental strain, the comfort in sorrow, the peace, contentment, and great love experienced through this truth, have been so great that I can never be thankful enough to God who is Love, and to Mrs. Eddy who has shown us how to rise above materiality into the spiritual understanding which is eternal life to them that gain it.

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