Testimony of Healing November 5, 1949 Issue

I should like to express my gratitude...

Grace Mary Frith

I should like to express my gratitude to God for the privilege of having known of Christian Science since I was a small child and for the many attendant blessings.

Whilst I was nursing in a military hospital during the war, under the heading of "doing my bit," it came my turn for night duty. I found myself with three wards and approximately seventy men to care for, including four serious pneumonia cases and one bronchial case. Most workers had a great deal to do, but as a Christian Scientist I wanted very much to bring a sense of harmony into the work. It had been my habit to spend at least fifteen minutes during the day realizing the presence of God, and I found on night duty that I Could best do this at midnight. The bronchial case was a man who so resented hospital life that he expressed himself in the most awful profanity. For three nights he was the most disturbing element, and on the fourth night I found myself much upset and distressed; so, as soon as I was able, I shut myself in the duty room to realize the harmony of God's presence. Suddenly I saw that whereas I was willing to give extra care to the very sick patients, this condition demanded much more and I must be obedient to Jesus' command (Matt. 5:41), "Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain." I knew that that patient could never resent divine Love.

Very early the following morning, while attending to another patient, I saw that this man was out of bed, so I called to him to come and hold the pillows while I helped the patient. Swearing, he came, and whilst he was assisting me, the patient looked up and asked if he might inquire what I did every night quietly in the middle of the ward for about fifteen minutes. Seeing that the man was sincere, I told him I tried to realize a sense of harmony in the ward, the presence of God, that a better sense of health might be established. As I left the bedside, the man who had been swearing followed me and stumblingly said, "If I swear again, please know it is a mistake." In a few days his bronchotomy operation was canceled, and he was classed as an "up-patient." He became so helpful in the ward, and so reliable, that I was able to give much more time to the four pneumonia cases, with the result that the medical officer in charge said these cases had recovered much quicker than he had expected. The matron commented on the peace and quiet of these wards at that particular time.

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