Testimony of Healing May 20, 1916 Issue

Christian Science came to me in 1910, when I was visiting...

Nina De Groff

Christian Science came to me in 1910, when I was visiting a friend, a Christian Scientist. I was so impressed by her loving life that I wanted to learn more of the truth she lived, and so determined to take up the study of Christian Science in earnest. At that time my physical condition did not disturb me so much as the mental, for I was very unhappy. I was not at all satisfied with the God I learned about at church,—a God who sent suffering and sorrow, and to whose will we must submit even though, as we believed, that will had been to send sickness and inharmony to the members of our family. Talks with my pastor and those who seemed to be earnest Christians only confused me, because they never gave me a God whom I could understand as the "gentle presence, peace and joy and power" (Poems, p. 4).

When Christian Science found me I was laboring under a constant sense of discouragement; it seemed impossible even to smile, and I felt bitter toward God and man. I had a most disagreeable disposition and constantly criticized those about me. Coupled with the necessity of earning my living was a feeling of incompetence and great timidity. I tried to be good, but seemed the more sure to fail the harder I tried. I hungered and thirsted after righteousness, but did not know how to find it. What Christian Science has been to me no words can tell. Only a lifetime of consecration can even partially express my gratitude to our dear Leader for her love and purity, her closeness to God which brought us this truth.

Christian Science has given me a God who is with me every moment, a peace that passeth understanding, and a happiness of which I had never even dreamed. This knowledge of the presence and power and allness of God healed me of chronic stomach trouble and weak back, of influenza in one night, of colds, headaches, throat trouble, and many other ailments. A seeming loss of memory, the result of an operation, has also been replaced by a very good memory. As I see more clearly the perfect man of God's creating, I feel a greater love for all mankind, which displaces the old feeling of criticism and bitterness. Material conditions are vastly improved, and there is continuous progress, even though it may seem slow, with an ever-increasing sense of freedom and harmony. Not a day passes that Christian Science does not help me to work out many problems.

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