Testimony of Healing April 14, 1934 Issue

When I was a small child I used to long to become great...

Katherine Varga Pohlman

When I was a small child I used to long to become great some day, so that I could, before all the world, give God the credit. I felt somehow that all ability and glory belonged to Him, and I wished very much to express that truth. There was, mixed with my play, the almost constant thought of God. As I grew, this sense of God's presence did not leave me, and often the spiritual sense of peace which would come to me seemed so overwhelming that I marveled in a childlike way that my material body did not dissolve with the power of it. Later it seemed strange that there could come to me regarding my religion a rather defeated sense—where was my God? Although doubt had crept in, I felt I would go out and find Him. In this effort I reached out to some strange doctrines, hoping for light and reassurance. At this time I was urged to try Christian Science for a physical difficulty. I went to a practitioner for treatment and she lent me a copy of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. I did not receive much physical help from the treatments, but I felt no sense of disappointment, for through my study of the book I knew that I had found the truth. My own life had been protected and happy, but the sorrow and suffering I had seen others experience distressed me greatly, and now to have in this volume a remedy for the woes of all mankind seemed too wonderful for words—my gratitude was boundless for being led to it.

A few years ago, through a small explosion, one of my hands was enveloped in flame and badly burned. I was in the basement at the time, and almost with the first terrific sense of pain came the thought of the Hebrew children who were cast into the fiery furnace, and of their pure consciousness which rendered them immune from pain and destruction. For a time I was so uplifted and inspired by the thought that it was possible to have a consciousness which reflected the divine so completely that error had no power, that all sense of pain left my hand and I walked up the stairs thinking only of the demonstration of holy power. As I came into the light I noticed that my hand was covered with black. I stepped to the kitchen sink, picked up the cake of soap, and began to wash my hand, but as the black began to come off, so did the skin. I was thoroughly frightened, the pain came back, and I rushed to the telephone to call a practitioner. I then tried to read, but seemed unable, because of the suffering. There came to me a desire to plunge my hand in oil, which reminded me of the definition of "oil" given on page 592 of our textbook. I paced the floor reading over and over again this definition, earnestly striving to realize its spiritual meaning.

Many predictions were made that the hand would be badly scarred, but in three weeks new skin had formed and except for a slight discoloration, which later disappeared, was as perfect as the other hand. I am deeply grateful for the work of the practitioner during this time.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

Having received so much good through Christian Science...