Gratitude for the many blessings...

Louis Johnson

Gratitude for the many blessings received through Christian Science prompts me to write this testimony. First I want to mention the peace that has come to me through a better understanding of God, and also the freedom from fear of an uncertain hereafter.

I was reared in a good Christian home and was required to read the Bible and go to church. I also received religious instruction in public school, and became familiar with the Bible stories, some of which I enjoyed and others I questioned and could not understand. I had an inner longing to be good and do good, but I did not gain it in the church, and therefore when I left my home I quit going to church, except occasionally to meet friends.

After a time I became ill with stomach trouble, for which I tried doctors, medicine, hygiene, and change of climate, without gaining freedom. While I was never sick enough to stay in bed, I was never well. Unable to stand the cold weather in the northern states, I finally moved south to a milder climate. While in a strange city I was led to attend a Christian Science lecture. One of the statements made by the lecturer appealed to me. He said: "Christian Science does not take away any good you already have. It only adds more to it." I soon found this to be true. Shortly after the lecture I went to a practitioner, and was healed in a short time. I began the study of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, together with the Bible, which became a new book to me and has been my daily companion ever since.

During the years I have been a student of Christian Science I have enjoyed good health. However, I have had three physical healings which gave me added proof of the healing power of divine Love.

About fifteen years ago my eyesight became poor. I applied my knowledge of Christian Science to the problem, but my understanding was not sufficient, and I had to resort to wearing glasses. After about eight years the glasses were not strong enough and needed to be changed. Instead of getting new glasses I asked a Christian Science practitioner for help and laid them aside. This healing was somewhat slow, and several weeks elapsed before I could read with ease. I read daily from Science and Health and the Bible, however, and each day my eyes grew stronger. The realization of the truth in the statement from Science and Health (p. 214). "Neither age nor accident can interfere with the senses of Soul, and there are no other real senses," was a big help in working out this problem, and I have proved this true, for I have not worn glasses for several years.

Later my hearing also became affected. When the discordant condition came to my attention I tried to solve it on the same basis, but it became acute, accompanied with pain, and it was necessary to ask for help from a Christian Science practitioner. After a few days there was a discharge from one ear, the pain stopped, and my hearing was restored to normal. While working on this case I tried to search my consciousness for any error which would prevent the healing of the trouble. I found I was guilty of using stimulants. On page 225 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes, "Whatever enslaves man is opposed to the divine government," and on page 406 she refers to "the depraved appetite for tea and coffee." I realized that I was a slave to those stimulants to some extent, and therefore stopped using them. Whether the discontinuance of stimulants had anything to do with the healing of the defective hearing I do not know, but I am glad that I was healed of both.

I have also been healed of pneumonia through Christian Science treatment. While the healing was not instantaneous, it was complete. The pain and fever left after a couple of days and the convalescence was rapid.

This testimony would not be complete without expressing my gratitude to God, the Giver of all good, for Christ Jesus, the Way-shower, and for Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. I also wish to express gratitude for membership in The Mother Church and in a branch church, and for class instruction, through which I have gained a better understanding of God and am therefore able in a measure to be a witness to the power of Truth.—Louis Johnson, Atlanta, Georgia.

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Testimony of Healing

It gives me great pleasure to...

November 13, 1943

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