Testimony of Healing November 25, 1933 Issue

My coming to Christian Science seems to have been a...

Leonard H. Paine

My coming to Christian Science seems to have been a long road with many turnings. I have received so much help over a period of years, during which time I have not always been a "faithful and wise steward," that I desire to give a testimony that may serve to keep others in the straight and narrow way. I first knew of Christian Science when finishing high school in 1913. I had worn glasses for several years, and during the final weeks of the school course my eyes became so weak and sensitive that I was excused from final examinations. I could not bear to face an electric light or the sun, and I suffered much pain. After graduation I went to visit some dear relatives, expecting to stay for a few days of rest. For the first time in my life I entered a Christian Science home and was greatly impressed with the peace and love that prevailed there. I was told of a Christian Science practitioner, and decided to have a talk with her regarding my eyes. This lady told me that my eyes could not be overworked or weakened, since the true idea of eyes is "spiritual discernment" (Science and Health, p. 586). This was a new idea to me and I walked joyfully away from the practitioner's office enjoying the sunshine, of which I had been so fearful a short time before. In about a week my eyes were entirely healed, and I returned to my home seeing normally. I was very grateful for this wonderful proof of God's love and resolved to endeavor to demonstrate Christian Science in my daily life.

It seems now that, although my intentions were good, I was not willing to lay my "earthly all on the altar of divine Science" (ibid., p. 55). As my own people were not interested in Christian Science, and as there were no church services near us, I drifted along for several years—at times very much interested in Science and again very far from it.

With the coming of the world war I enlisted in the navy, and a few months later, through fear of change of climate and exposure, I landed in a naval hospital. Here I underwent an operation for empyema and was later sent to a hospital in another state. It was while there, gaining in strength, that I began the study of Christian Science in earnest. I studied the Bible and Science and Health each day in the presence of many sailors and did not mind their good-natured banter. I knew that my hope of health and happiness lay in these two books. I found other men who were interested in Christian Science; and an old seafaring man came to us and asked that we "teach it" to him. There was also a Christian Science practitioner who lived near the naval reservation. Through her clear thought I received much help and healing, so that when discharged from the service I was well on the road to recovery.

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