Testimony of Healing October 3, 1914 Issue

It is with the deepest thankfulness to God for Christian Science...

Grace Ellwood

It is with the deepest thankfulness to God for Christian Science that I give the following testimony of mental surgery. Two years ago my son was engaged in a game of basket-ball at the gymnasium of the University of Chicago. During the game, when jumping after the ball, he fell, incurring a badly fractured ankle-bone. The surgeon, who was always at hand in case of emergency, was called. The boy declared himself a Christian Scientist and asked to be sent home. The surgeon smiled and said it was too serious a case for Christian Science. He was allowed to bandage the ankle, and then he sent my son home in a carriage with a message to me, saying that the ankle-bone was badly fractured and he advised the X-ray, in order to have it set properly. He also said that the boy must not put his foot to the ground under any consideration; if he did, the consequences would prove dangerous.

When I saw my son being carried into the house, my fear was very great, but the comforting thought came to me that "divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need" (Science and Health, p. 494), and I also realized that only radical reliance on Truth would heal a broken bone. We then sent for a Christian Science practitioner. Upon arrival she inquired of the boy's father if he was willing to have Christian Science treatment, and when he gave his consent, we were all grateful, for at that time he was not much interested in Science. Treatment began at once. In three days my son was able to hobble around the house with the use of a cane, without touching his foot to the ground; in ten days he put on his shoe, and walked with the aid of a cane to the practitioner's home, one block away. In two weeks he returned to school with scarcely any trace of a broken ankle. In three weeks he walked from school with his companions, a distance of three miles at least. Mrs. Eddy says, "Christian Science is always the most skilful surgeon, but surgery is the branch of its healing which will be last acknowledged" (Science and Health, p. 402).

I was indeed grateful for this satisfying demonstration; it proved to me that Truth does heal and bless mankind. Christian Science has met our many needs for five years.

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