Testimony of Healing December 24, 1938 Issue

I had been an ardent student of Christian Science for...

Lawrence Creath Ammons

I had been an ardent student of Christian Science for nearly ten years before an opportunity arose to test its healing power, although up to that time I had enjoyed its protection and was grateful for the good I had received from its study. However, there were certain lines in Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy of which I did not approve, because I regarded them from the false theological standpoint. One of these appears on page 66, where Mrs. Eddy writes, "Trials are proofs of God's care." It seemed to me that infinite Love could hardly provide trials and suffering as evidence of gracious care; but I soon learned that by looking beyond sense testimony we can make of our trials opportunities to prove the presence of God's loving protection.

At the time I was chief usher in a large branch church in America. One Sunday morning I was playing with a cat which I had rescued from a back alley. Although he was in a playful mood, my advances were too rough, and he retaliated by severely biting the knuckle joint of the index finger of my right hand. I paid only slight attention to this, but later on in the morning, while I was at church, acute poisoning set in. At the end of the service help was obtained from the Second Reader, and before the end of the afternoon I felt that the crisis had passed. However, during the evening service there was a relapse, and I called upon another practitioner to visit me.

Recovery from the acute poisoning was fairly rapid, but seven months of slow convalescence forced me to "look deep into realism instead of accepting only the outward sense of things" (ibid., p. 129). Although it was impossible to carry on my profession as a pianist, I was able to teach during this period, using my left hand for demonstration and technical development, but being unable to move the fingers of the right hand. At the same time I studied our textbook thoroughly, and endeavored to put what I read into practice every minute of each day. A passage in our textbook (p. 418) says: "Truth is affirmative, and confers harmony. All metaphysical logic is inspired by this simple rule of Truth, which governs all reality." This provided me with a daily reminder. The practitioner who had so faithfully helped me then proposed that I should work alone. In a few days I began to use the hand and, in a short time, was able to play as freely as before, having mastered every suggestion of paralyzed action. My progress was so evident that the teacher who had previously refused my application for class instruction accepted me without question.

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