Article August 30, 1913 Issue

RENEWED STRENGTH

WM. J. MC CLOSKEY.

I am grateful for the fact that Christian Science has enabled me to meet successfully every condition, both mental and physical, that so far has confronted me since I have accepted its teachings. A recent blizzard having enabled me to make such a demonstration of the power of the truth over material conditions, I feel that others, especially workers, may be interested in the statement of my experiences.

As an employee of the Pennsylvania railroad I was called out with many others to shovel snow along the line. I found myself one Sunday morning on board a work–train, bound for Philadelphia, with about a hundred and fifty sturdy railroaders, and here was the proposition which appeared to my human sense. I was to be out an unlimited number of hours, to shovel an unlimited amount of snow, in company with a lot of men seemingly with an unlimited amount of endurance and training for such work. Now as I weighed a great deal less than any of the other men it can readily be seen that I appeared to be up against a hard problem. How was I to do my share of this labor to which I had not been accustomed? The shovel felt, to my untrained arms, as a load in itself, without the addition of the snow it would hold. I knew that of myself I was not equal to the work in hand, so I turned to Principle, as revealed in Christian Science, for help. I reasoned that this work was necessary and proper to do, and that as man lives, moves, and has his being in God, He would give me strength enough to do the work, and that I was working with God. With this assurance in mind I felt perfectly confident that I would be equal to the occasion.

As we approached Philadelphia we found that the storm had been very much more severe there than at home. We were, finally, completely blocked with a number of passenger–trains, some thirty miles from the city. We all jumped from our train into snow which reached almost to our waists, waded to the station, and shoveled the platforms clean. Meanwhile another gang of men had opened the line, so we were able to proceed slowly toward the city, stopping, however, at every station to shovel the platforms clear of snow. We worked throughout the night, and finally reached West Philadelphia about nine o'clock Monday morning. I did not feel tired or exhausted when this unusual work was finished. Some of my acquaintances among the men said that they were surprised at the way I worked and kept at it to the finish.

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