Testimony of Healing May 4, 1918 Issue

The mitigation of the effects of what seemed a serious...

S. T. Dunn

The mitigation of the effects of what seemed a serious accident, by dwelling almost immediately upon the truth about the occurrence instead of upon the evidence of the material senses, has been so encouraging to me that I want to tell others of it, to whom it may be useful at moments when so-called material law asserts itself. At the beginning of 1915 I was taking a walk, and had to cross a road in London crowded with motor traffic. In looking after my dog I myself almost got knocked down by a motor bus, the front wheel of which went over my foot. These vehicles weigh about thirteen tons, and I felt that I was seriously injured and must give myself up to the people who were hurrying to help me; but there was no time to lose, if what I knew of Christian Science was to be put into operation. These words came to me: "Accidents are unknown to God" (Science and Health, p. 424); but in spite of trying to realize this, the sense of injury seemed to be overcoming me. The truth, however, was insistent. This statement was either true or it was not; if it was true, then there was nothing to prevent me from finishing the walk. Human reason yielded to this logic, and I acted accordingly.

The first few steps were fairly painful; but following Mrs. Eddy's instruction, "When error confronts you, withhold not the rebuke or the explanation which destroys error" (Science and Health, p. 452), the pain grew less and less. After going home, I went off to my work in the suburbs. The pain had now quite ceased, but I thought I must have trodden in a pool of water, as it was raining. This was explained, however, later in the morning, when I noticed that blood was oozing out through the lace holes and over the top of my boot. It was necessary, therefore, to go out and take off the boot and wash my foot, half of which seemed to be a crushed mass; but remembering the help that I had already received, I clung to the true version and declined the assistance of a surgeon, whom my kind friends wished to summon, saying that I would lose my foot unless proper care was taken of it. Wrapping my handkerchief round what with the eye of faith I regarded as my toes, I put the foot back into the boot, finished my work, and went home. In a week all bleeding had stopped, and in a fortnight I could walk, or run if I had liked. The only material help I needed was the washing of the foot, putting on a clean handkerchief each day, and wearing a soft shoe for a few weeks.

There is now no sign of injury, the nails have all grown again, and the bones and muscles are in their old places and acting normally. It would be impossible to express the love and gratitude I feel to our Leader for boldly showing us the absolute truth of being and giving us courage to rely upon it. On that spot in Kensington High Street, I was, as it were, face to face with Truth, or God, and my aim has ever since been to recognize Him everywhere and similarly to overcome the illusions of mortal sense that would claim to hide His presence from our eyes.—S. T. Dunn, Kew, England.

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