Testimony of Healing April 17, 1926 Issue

I came to Christian Science a few years ago for physical...

Hannah Hovey

I came to Christian Science a few years ago for physical healing. Little did I dream of the benefits I was to receive. I had suffered from chronic stomach trouble for ten years, and material remedies did not help me. I was under the care of a noted specialist and adhered faithfully to his treatment for more than a year. This consisted of a strict diet and the daily use of the stomach pump. I improved a little as a result of this treatment, but in a short time the trouble returned in a more serious form, and a surgical operation seemed necessary. I was operated on for ulcers of the stomach and appendicitis, the gall bladder was removed, and a new outlet made in the stomach. I had great hope that this would make me well, but it did not: I still had to resort to the stomach pump. The same distressing conditions returned, together with new troubles, among them weakness, nervousness, and extreme dizziness.

Having been brought up in the Lutheran Church, I had been taught to believe that suffering was the will of God. This seemed inconceivable to me, and I had long ceased to pray. Before the operation above mentioned I visited a relative in Chicago who had been healed by Christian Science, after physicians had pronounced the case incurable. She recommended that I try Christian Science for my condition, but I did not give it much thought at the time. The hope of what Christian Science could do, however, remained with me. Like many other sufferers, I turned to God only as a last resort—after having had the operation and trying several other systems of healing, including osteopathy and chiropractic treatments.

My work as teacher in the public schools brought me to Cleveland, Ohio, where Christian Science was again recommended to me by the lady with whom I boarded. She knew nothing about this truth, but said that her sister was a Christian Science practitioner and that it would help me. I very gladly went to see this practitioner. In less than three weeks I was healed of the stomach trouble (including fear of certain foods). The weakness due to the operation was overcome gradually. It was a hard struggle; but through it all I knew that God, good, was all-powerful, and that this evil would return to its native nothingness if I would be more trustful. It has since been entirely overcome.

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