Testimony of Healing August 10, 1946 Issue

I wish to express my gratitude...

Takashi Oka

I wish to express my gratitude for the training in Christian Science given me since childhood, and especially for the fact that Christian Science teaches one to think things out for himself. Time and again at Sunday School it was made clear to me that I had to work out my own salvation. Others could point out the way, but it was up to me to walk in it.

I have realized the value of this training in recent years. The war years were ones of great depression and mental struggle for me. It was Christian Science that finally pulled me through, because it is so logical, a Science that one can reason out for oneself, without having to depend on others. During this period of wavering and doubt, I found these words by Mary Baker Eddy particularly helpful (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 393): "Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man."

One of my chief problems was a great repugnance to entering the Army. From as early as I can remember, the prospect of having to enter the Army had been hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles. It was not so much the physical hardships as the terrific mental pressure which I dreaded, because I felt I might not be able to stand this pressure. However, the problem was beautifully worked out through the prayers of my family, and I found that as the day of my induction drew nearer I became calmer and calmer instead of more and more agitated. My brief term of service was filled with opportunities for the application of what I had learned, and altogether was a valuable experience of growth in spiritual understanding.

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