In an effort to persuade a sister who was becoming interested...

Bertha Hunt Goodrich

In an effort to persuade a sister who was becoming interested in Christian Science that it was a false religion, I read books opposed to this Science and consulted the pastor of my church. But I also read the textbook of Christian Science, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, and to my astonishment discovered that this was the religion I had always longed to find.

I was greatly in need of physical healing, and one of my afflictions was a hernia, which appeared after a surgical operation for appendicitis in 1910. An operation for the hernia was undergone in 1911, but in a few months the condition reappeared. At the time I attended my first Christian Science service, in 1917, I was wearing a steel support for the hernia, and physicians had forbidden me to do any heavy physical work. I had been told that I should undergo another operation for hernia, although it was uncertain whether it would be any more successful than the previous one.

As I listened to the testimonies of healing in Christian Science, I decided that if this religion would heal the hernia from which I suffered, I should accept it as the truth. Still being somewhat skeptical, I searched the literature for a healing of such a condition, and when I discovered one I wrote to the testifier to make sure there really was such a person. A delightful correspondence resulted, and I went to a practitioner for treatment.

On the day the first treatment was given, and when I was about to go to care for a sick friend, the steel support I was wearing broke without warning. I was afraid to go on my errand, afraid even to walk, but the practitioner assured me of God's loving presence, and part of my bondage was broken, for I went about my duties without any ill effect. I was so fearful that I immediately had the steel support mended, but I have never worn it since. My health improved in every way, and I did all the hard household tasks which once I had been forbidden to do.

Several years passed, but as some physical evidence of the hernia persisted, and I occasionally suffered some discomfort, I felt I could not accept Christian Science until the healing was complete. Finally, the words of Jesus to Thomas came to me with significance, "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

Grateful for many other healings, and for improved health and strength, I joined The Mother Church and a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, and rejoiced in the privilege of class instruction. Gradually, as thought was turned away from the body toward man's real spiritual selfhood, the healing took place, although I never realized exactly when. Later, a physician in making a thorough physical examination, could find no hernia, although he found the place where new tissues had grown over the opening.

Among the blessings for which I am extremely grateful are the two children we have adopted. Through the prayer of a loving, consecrated Christian Science practitioner, these children were found while small babies, and they have always been a joy in our home.

I am deeply grateful for Christian Science, for the understanding of the Bible which it gives, and for the many channels provided by our Leader through which mankind is blessed, particularly our newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor.—(Mrs.)Bertha Hunt Goodrich, Rochester, New York.

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Testimony of Healing

For about eighteen years I have been enjoying the blessings...

September 12, 1936

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