Testimony of Healing February 2, 1935 Issue

I have long been grateful for demonstrations of the...

Charles Jackson Jones

I have long been grateful for demonstrations of the power and presence of God, good, in times of great emergency during my experience in France as an officer in the United States Army during the World War. Shortly before the battle of Saint Mihiel I was transferred to the command of a platoon of machine guns; and among the men in the platoon was one suffering from the belief of an arrested mentality. The unthinking gibes of his comrades had so added to his burden that he presented a pitiful picture of human misery—friendless and terribly alone among those of his own kind. I quickly replaced a sense of the inequality of the endowed faculties with the acknowledgment of the equality of the children of the one Father-Mother God and "joint-heirs" of all the good that there is—a heritage of dominion, not subjection. So great was my illumination that I hastened to acknowledge it and to assign this soldier a definite place with a gun squad. This he joyfully accepted. Advancing to the first line a few days later, we came under shellfire for the first time. This one was first in the column, walking confidently erect, fairly radiating joy in his new-found dominion. Apparently he was without fear; his example was an inspiration to his comrades, and all passed safely through this zone of fire though shells burst overhead, on and near the road which we traveled. God had indeed prepared a table for us in the wilderness and turned this experience into one of joy and triumph.

Later, I was severely gassed and evacuated to a hospital; my condition continued to grow worse and discouragement and fear grew apace. I could not seem to rise out of this experience in my surroundings, and longed particularly for an opportunity to visit the Christian Science Reading Room in Paris. The doctors in the hospital, in a spirit of kind intent, informed me that there was nothing further that could be done for me and that I would not live much longer. The way was suddenly opened for me to go to Paris, and I made my way to the Reading Room after recovering sufficiently from my trip to walk. Too troubled to read, I found my need met by the great understanding of the librarian, who told me of the wonderful work being done by Christian Scientists in the hospitals of Paris—the healing of all manner of conditions. In this familiar atmosphere my assurance of good returned, the work of the practitioner back home, who was helping me, was acknowledged; and I was healed. I reached my division five days later and was pronounced physically fit after a most thorough examination.

I am grateful for this same sustaining presence during this period of world-wide emergency; for the privilege of serving the Cause of Christian Science in a branch church; and for a growing appreciation of our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, who has made the power of ever-present good available through her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," and her other writings.

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