When I was a soldier in World War...

Percy F. Relyea

When I was a soldier in World War I, a bunk mate invited me to accompany him to his church. I had been attending an orthodox church in Washington, District of Columbia, but accepted his invitation without asking him the name of his church. We arrived fifteen minutes early at First Church of Christ, Scientist, Washington, but it was necessary to sit in the balcony. The balcony seat provided a complete view of the full auditorium, with its quiet, expectant listeners—no hubbub of chatting or gossiping was in evidence.

I felt at ease and rested at once in this atmosphere of Love. The services were interesting, with no long special call for funds, but when the collection plates were passed through the congregation the generosity of the giving caused me to declare to myself: "These people must have received much to give so much. I'll draw some of them out. Maybe I too can find out what they know."

I returned to my camp feeling uplifted after that hour of spiritual contact. My Christian Science friend introduced me to the Camp Welfare Worker, who gave me a khaki–bound copy of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, but asked me to pay for the Bible to study with it. I started reading the Bible Lessons, along with Science and Health, giving admittance to the thoughts of Truth that make men free. All my leisure time I spent reading this wonderful book by our Leader, becoming more enthusiastic every minute about the Mind that heals.

Learning more about God as Love, in the first chapter, on Prayer, in Science and Health, was a pleasant experience. I attended church, went to lectures, visited the Reading Rooms. It was only four weeks later that a trial of faith came in the form of a dislocation of the jawbone, caused by a baseball bat swing that ended on my chin. The men wanted to take me to the hospital at once, but Mind was there, and I shook my head. All the time holding my jaw in place with my hand, realizing the presence of God as Love and as my Life, I went out to where a Christian Science practitioner and the Camp Welfare Worker were sitting. Both of them realized the need for clear, scientific thinking, without my saying anything. "Man cannot be separated for an instant from God, if man reflects God," says our Leader on page 306 of Science and Health. Christian Science healed this particular condition right there. Instantly my jawbone snapped back in place. That Sunday evening I was certainly singing praises to God for His unchanging love.

During the following months of army service, the khaki–bound Science and Health was my constant companion, ready to be read at any rest period during the officers' training school. The reading of this wonderful book and my realization of the healing truth contained therein, were a constant protection to me. I experienced protection from fatigue, influenza, sin, disease, and death; also the ensuing years were made more harmonious for me and mine physically and spiritually.

I am most grateful to Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, for a better understanding of the Bible, gained through the study of the Lesson–Sermons in the Christian Science Quarterly. I am also grateful for membership in The Mother Church and in a branch church, and for the opportunity to serve in various ways in the affairs of Christian Science.—Percy F. Relyea, Dallas, Texas.

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Testimony of Healing

What a wonderful blessing is...

May 1, 1943

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