Testimony of Healing September 20, 1952 Issue

A short testimony cannot tell of...

Gilbert B. A. Williams

A short testimony cannot tell of all the blessings which Christian Science has brought into my life; so I will content myself with recounting one episode which made a great impression on me at the time. I was then a very young student of Christian Science and was serving as a junior deck officer in the British Merchant Service.

Before going on watch I always used to know that I could "of mine own self do nothing" (John 5:30), but that as an idea of divine Mind I could express God, whom Mrs. Eddy defines in part on page 587 of Science and Health as "the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal." Going on the bridge one morning at four o'clock I was told by the senior officer on watch that he was leaving me in charge of the watch while he made some calculations in the chartroom. It was very dark, and the visibility was deceptive due to scattered low-lying clouds, behind which a setting moon caused dense shadows to be cast on the surface of the sea ahead and on each side of the ship's course.

We passed by and through several of these shadows, and then I became convinced that what appeared to be a shadow just like the others was in fact land dead ahead. On notifying the senior officer on watch, I was able to convince him also of what I thought, and a considerable alteration of course was accordingly ordered. While swinging onto the new course the ship came so close to shore that we could see the line of surf against outlying reefs and the dark silhouette of palm trees against the night sky. Had the ship continued on her former course for another five minutes she would have run ashore, and under the conditions of wind and sea then prevailing would almost certainly have become a total loss. The lookout on the forecastly head, who was in a better position than others to sight land, never reported sighting anything during the whole of this maneuver. For the first time in several days a clear sky at dawn enabled the ship's position to be accurately determined, and this showed that the ship had been set more than forty miles off her proper course by an unexpectedly strong current.

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