Testimony of Healing May 31, 1919 Issue

After medicine had failed, surgery had proved worse than...

Julia Ross Alden

After medicine had failed, surgery had proved worse than useless, and fresh air, exercise, and diet had brought no relief, my husband and I turned to Christian Science, not be cause we believed in it, but because it was the only thing left untried. In order to help him and with no thought of receiving help, I began to read Science and Health, and because it held my interest I continued to read and reread. Before I reached the point, however, where I really had begun to study, and while still doubtful that Christian Science was anything but a very interesting theory, I met with an accident.

While standing near a trap door, it was opened without my noticing it, and on stepping backward I fell, striking my spine on a cement floor about eight feet below. My husband and the two friends who were with us were so shocked that for a few seconds they made no effort to reach or help me, saying afterwards they were afraid of what they might find. I am grateful that my first conscious thought turned to Christian Science for help; in fact, I felt that if Christian Science could not stand this test, there was no help for me. We were all children in our understanding of this healing truth, but from the time of the accident until we reached the practitioner, almost three hours later, we held on to the little we knew, and the sentence in Science and Health (p. 495), "When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea," kept me again and again from slipping out into darkness. By the time the practitioner was finally reached, however, my condition had become alarming and I seemed to be almost unconscious.

From the moment treatment was begun by the practitioner the fear and suffering began to subside, and within less than an hour I was mentally perfectly quiet and clear. Although I did not sleep, I have never before rested as I did that night. The sense of safety, of security and peace, I shall never forget and never cease to be grateful for. During the night the swelling, which had made every movement agony, began gradually to disappear. I could move with comparative ease, and in the morning, much to my husband's astonishment and a little to my own, I got up and dressed as usual. That afternoon I seemed suddenly to sink—so suddenly that I could hardly reach the telephone. I did reach it, however, and within a few hours after talking to the practitioner I was perfectly and permanently healed. I am convinced that this clear work saved me from weeks and perhaps years of invalidism, if not worse.

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