Testimony of Healing April 19, 1941 Issue

For many years I have relied on Christian Science to help...

Marvel Gardiner

For many years I have relied on Christian Science to help me overcome every difficulty. In practically every instance of physical healing, health was quickly, and in a number of cases instantaneously restored.

But there came an experience wherein I was tested, and had to work long and valiantly for the return of health. I was stricken suddenly with a nervous breakdown, accompanied by acute asthma. Overcoming the inordinate fear of death which was an element of this experience, afforded me the greatest cause for gratitude to Christian Science. The fear of passing on became so great that it amounted to resignation. A statement from Science and Health (p. 428), "We must hold forever the consciousness of existence, and sooner or later, through Christ and Christian Science, we must master sin and death," was a direct command to abandon such passivity and become mentally active.

The sense of smothering seemed so real that my family made every effort to prevent me from exerting myself in the slightest degree. To raise my head seemed a stupendous effort. The practitioner observed this, and also discerned that I was considering myself a helpless invalid. With true spiritual insight she reminded me that the methods of Christian Science healing are different from those that medical science would advocate, and that I should make every possible effort to help myself. I was also reminded that a healing by Jesus or one of the apostles was often accompanied by a command to do something. It was my custom, when fear and suffering were the worst, to reach for my Bible or one of Mrs. Eddy's writings, which were always kept within easy reach. Some time after the practitioner departed this need arose. I reached for my copy of Science and Health and remembered that it was on a table across the room, where someone had placed it after reading to me. The words from page 264 came to me, "We must look where we would walk, and we must act as possessing all power from Him in whom we have our being." This was another direct command. The other side of the room seemed far away and I argued that I could not make it, not having had my feet on the floor for several weeks. Then I remembered that Aeneas had been bedfast for eight years, but when Peter said, "Arise, and make thy bed," he "arose immediately." Through spiritual strength I procured the book and got back to my bed thanking God and thinking this would be the end of the whole experience. But it was not so. I had to make similar demonstrations over and over again for many months. And this is something for which, now, I can express the profoundest gratitude. In making this effort I learned the lessons I needed to learn. I learned not to yield to discouragement, and to be glad that no matter if I did seem to have to begin over and over, I still could begin. This taught me constancy, consecration, and patience.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

Since childhood it had been customary for me to visit a...