Testimony of Healing December 1, 1951 Issue

I did not take up the study of...

Anne Sidenius

I did not take up the study of Christian Science for a healing of my own, although I was much in need of one. My father was very ill with tuberculosis, and the doctor said his passing on would be a matter of only a few days at the most. In the meantime my father decided to try Christian Science and asked me to call a practitioner; I did as he asked. I told my father that I knew nothing about Christian Science but would be glad to read to him until he was able to read for himself.

The practitioner came to see him about five o'clock that afternoon. She called our attention to the opening words in the Preface to the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy (p. vii), "To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings." The practitioner asked us to study that one sentence and ponder it, and to look up in the Concordances to the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings the words leaning, sustaining, and infinite. That same evening after dinner my father walked out in the garden and stood for nearly a half-hour watching some gardening being done. In less than two months he returned to work, completely healed.

For almost a year I had been doctoring for a bladder trouble and had been told that an operation was the only thing that would give me permanent relief. I had always had a great fear of operations, thinking that I would never come out of them alive. I had a family consisting of my husband, two small children, and my father to care for. Each day I had to lie down several times and was not able to do any hard work. A few days after I had called the practitioner for my father, I felt I needed to rest; and on my way to lie down I saw the copy of Science and Health on the table and picked it up, wondering if there was anything in it that would help me. I opened it at random and read these words on page 385: "Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself." I read it over several times and pondered its meaning. I knew it was my duty to care for my home, my children, and my father, and instead of lying down, I went back to my work. Two days later I realized that I had been instantaneously healed, for I had been very busy both days and on my feet a great deal, and there had been no ill effect. That was over thirty-five years ago, and the healing has been permanent.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

"As the children of Israel were...