Testimony of Healing December 8, 1923 Issue

Words cannot express my gratitude for the holy privilege...

Roger Alston Jones with contributions from Cecile LaTaste Jones

Words cannot express my gratitude for the holy privilege I enjoy of being a student of Christian Science and a follower of our revered and consecrated Leader, Mary Baker Eddy.

During the war I was an aviator in the British Royal Air Force, flying in Texas, Canada, and England. In the summer of 1918 I purchased a soldiers' edition of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy from one of the Reading Rooms in London, and commenced reading it at once. My slight understanding of the truth saved my life in many instances while flying that summer and autumn. On one particular instance in the fall of that year, I was "taking off" in a service machine to do a bombing test, carrying two live bombs and several dummies. I "took off" in what is called a left climbing turn, and on reaching a height of about one hundred feet or more above the aerodrome I attempted to flatten out by reversing controls, but my engine "conked," that is, it stopped running; and thereupon the machine started into a flat spin. To get out of a spin at so little height is considered impossible. My first thoughts were that I should be killed; but then the thought came to me from page 472 of Science and Health, "God is the only Life." The spin stopped; and with a left vertical side slip and great force the machine crashed to earth, two small bombs exploding. I was informed of this fact later when in the hospital; for I was knocked unconscious by having the wreck fall on top of me, and hardly realized what was happening when the crash came. The heavy engine, which might have fallen on and crushed me, was blown away a few feet. I suffered no permanent injuries—only severe bruises and cuts, which healed in a few weeks. Thus I beheld what even a small grain of spiritual understanding could do for me; and I became more than ever determined to study this wonderful truth. Prior to that time I had been only reading.

Some "doubting Thomas" may say I was merely lucky. The facts remain, however, that all material laws, so called, were rendered null and void by my slight understanding of Science, declared and utilized that day. If we realized that "God is the only Life," as Mrs. Eddy states, the knowledge of this truth would prove equally potent whenever applied to any so-called dangerous situation.

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