I wish to express something of the gratitude I feel that...

Harvey J. Darroch

I wish to express something of the gratitude I feel that Christian Science was brought to my knowledge, and for the blessings it has brought to me and mine. It was not through a desire for physical healing that I took up the study of this Science, but because I always had been very much dissatisfied with life and was searching for something that would explain it and make it seem more worth living. My father was an agnostic, so the family was allowed to grow up without any religion. I had the firm belief that there could be no such thing as a Supreme Being, and that death was the end of everything as far as the individual was concerned. There seemed to be no logical reason for living, yet here I was.

Through the patient, persistent, and loving efforts of friends, over a period of some ten years, I was at last brought to see that Christian Science offered a better explanation of life than anything of which I had heard. I found that Mrs. Eddy explained God in a way that I could understand and accept, and, what was more, use in my daily life. The Bible still meant nothing to me, but I studied "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy because I was finding that its statements were provably true.

Finally came a day when I read an article entitled "The Last Enemy," which had been clipped by a friend from an old copy of the Christian Science Sentinel. There and then took place my greatest healing. From that day I gained the conviction, which has never left me, that Life is eternal and death, therefore, merely an illusion. Only those who have always been convinced that death ends one's existence can really appreciate what that healing can mean. Its effects extend into all the minutiae of one's daily life and banish sorrow and grief; it gives one a reason for living, and shows life to be a continuous upward progression. Death has no more terrors for me.

That this was conviction and not merely belief was proved to me when my father passed on under conditions which would have caused great sorrow, disappointment, depression, and regret had it taken place before I knew of Christian Science. There was no sense of loss, separation, or sorrow. I knew he still lived just as fully as ever, and that all I had loved in him was still with me and always would be. Science had not healed me of sorrow, for sorrow is unreal, but had protected me from even experiencing it. What a far-reaching blessing this is!

Christian Science lifted a heavy burden of resentment that I carried for years, and in its place came love and understanding. This healing took place practically overnight.

What a boon to mankind to have that which frees one from the galling yoke of hate!

I have always been blessed with a fair measure of health, yet, since I have been studying Science, I have been healed instantaneously of the symptoms of ptomaine poisoning. This came about through a sudden feeling of gratitude for what Science had done for a member of my family and a recognition at the same time that "Love is the liberator" (Science and Health, p. 225). I had a beautiful healing of a sprained ankle. It pained me severely for two days, during which time I had to walk on it almost continuously. At the end of the second day every vestige of pain and weakness suddenly disappeared and did not return.

Those who claim that Christian Scientists do not revere the Bible or that it turns people away from it are mistaken, I am sure; for through the reading of Mrs. Eddy's writings and the study of the Bible in conjunction with them, I have come to see, somewhat, the underlying spiritual meaning of this greatest of books and to turn to it for the solution of many problems.

After all this it seems trite to say that one is grateful to Mrs. Eddy for having unfolded so much of Truth to one's consciousness. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Mrs. Eddy writes in her Message to The Mother Church for 1901 (p. 34): "Finally, brethren, wait patiently on God; return blessing for cursing; be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good; be steadfast, abide and abound in faith, understanding, and good works; study the Bible and the textbook of our denomination; obey strictly the laws that be, and follow your Leader only so far as she follows Christ." I hope best to express my gratitude by endeavoring to follow this advice.

Harvey J. Darroch, Hollywood, California.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

In 1918 I became interested in Christian Science through...

December 14, 1935

Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit