Testimony of Healing August 25, 1917 Issue

Those of us who have come into Christian Science through...

Genevieve Olson

Those of us who have come into Christian Science through a gradual absorption and understanding of the truth, and not for physical healing, often overlook the importance of subsequent physical healings, until a crisis in our thought forces us to awaken to the truth. As a child I had been taught to rely implicitly on material remedies, and the family doctor was highly regarded in our home; yet as time went on the belief in doctors waned. God had always seemed very near to me, though I regarded Him as a personality; but my heart yearned after the truth, and gradually I evolved a philosophy which was a jumble of the false and the true.

Through the inspiring example of a Christian Scientist my husband became interested in Christian Science, and when we had read Science and Health we realized the spiritual truth it revealed. Yet I know now that at first this truth was only intellectually perceived, for there was no practical demonstration; in fact my outlook upon life was very worldly. There came times when it was necessary to rely on Christian Science treatment, and though I rose to the occasion I seemed to fall back when victory over the physical condition was gained. I realize now that I often inwardly discredited Christian Science with the cure, wondering if the ailment would not have "overcome itself."

Finally, with the birth of our third child I came, through the loving guidance of the practitioner, into a fuller knowledge of Christian Science. Then came the real test of my understanding, when, after the birth of my baby, which was a beautiful demonstration in itself, the persistent claim of bowel trouble had to be overcome. My mother had brought me up with the belief that this was a most serious ill, but Christian Science had taught me that all such ills are unreal. A mental struggle ensued, while like Jacob I wrestled in the night. I recalled many so-called physical laws, and even pictured myself spoken of as the "victim of Christian Science treatment." Then, in the darkest hour before the dawn, the full significance of certain beautiful passages in Science and Health was realized, and all that I knew of Science rose up to cope with the error. Mentally the false claim was faced as "a liar from the beginning" (Science and Health, p. 296), and it shrank away into its native nothingness.

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