Testimony of Healing September 29, 1928 Issue

It was compulsory in the course I had contracted for at...

Edna Christine Seiter

It was compulsory in the course I had contracted for at school to study the natural sciences. At the end of four years my thoughts were so saturated with man-made hypotheses and theories that I had reached the conclusion that God was a myth. These material explanations seemed to account for the universe and man so positively that there was no room left for God. Faith in God, I decided, like other childish fancies, was a belief outgrown. But a certain question had been hovering in my thoughts for some time, a question never answered to my satisfaction. So, at the conclusion of my fourth year, I approached my physiography instructor and asked, "Presuming that the universe originally existed in a gaseous state, as one of your hypotheses implies, what force caused the gases to circulate and unite, forming liquids and afterwards solids?" He replied, "Oh, we have to recognize, of course, that there is a divine power." Then he added, "And man, for want of another name, calls it God." I stared at him, not comprehending, for I was remembering that he and his fellow professors for four years had tried to explain away all divine cause. I thanked him and turned away, wondering where I could learn more of this divinity that was obviously of vague existence to him. Did anyone know? I thought of it almost constantly, for I was then passing through what at that time was a tragic disappointment in regard to my future, and I was finding what I was pleased to call my atheism not at all comforting or helpful.

At this time an incident occurred, the details of which are too lengthy to relate here, in which two friends displayed a great trust in divine protection at a time when all others present were fearful. These two friends were Christian Scientists, and it was through my wonder at their evident calm and confidence that I was led to attend a Christian Science Sunday service. I admired the simplicity of the service, and the beautiful church building itself; I responded to the peaceful atmosphere, and found myself refreshed; the kindliness of the people warmed me, but I did not at all comprehend the terms used in the reading of the Lesson-Sermon. I realized that all this must be explained in the Sunday school; so I enrolled. If I could not agree, I thought,—and I am now amused to remember my youthful independence,—I would cease going. I asked many questions, based on my material science studies, for these had made me doubtful and cynical. Each question was carefully considered; references in Mrs. Eddy's works were offered to me; and thus my questions were answered with a thoroughness that satisfied me. My understanding grew, and doubt was displaced step by step as problems were met and physical difficulties of various types were overcome through the application of Christian Science, the one Science which will wholly satisfy the scientific seeker for Truth, which we are shown is a synonym of God, the omnipotent, omniscient Being. I had entered business and found I could apply it with happy success there. I am told that my entire demeanor, my very character in fact, changed. I had always talked of "ideals"; I had found the one and only true ideal.

At twenty, after two and a half years in the Sunday school (and I might insert here that my thought raises a monument of gratitude to that loyal servant of Truth and Love, my teacher, who for two years of that time lovingly gave of her time and experience that I might grasp the truth, and who as practitioner has given inestimable help to my mother and myself), I became a member of a branch church and, later, of The Mother Church. Thus, with continued study and as I gratefully acknowledge, the help of the Journal, Sentinel, and Monitor in this study, I have been privileged to teach in the Sunday school and to serve in other church activities.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

When Christian Science was presented to me I was in a...