For twenty-five years I suffered...

Bertha Erichsen

For twenty-five years I suffered from lumbago. After heavy work in the house or garden it always manifested itself and caused me to walk very much stooped. As my desire for understanding in Christian Science grew I realized that what one knows must be expressed in deeds if one is to progress. I saw that as a first step I should voice nothing of illness or other inharmonies, in order to give up thinking of them. I put this into practice faithfully, and every slip of speech became an opportunity for correction.

Once in a conversation I said, "Of course, you know that after heavy work I cannot walk upright." Then I saw that I had made a mistake, which I must correct. Later there came to my thought some of Mrs. Eddy's statements regarding Spirit, God, to whom matter is unknown. I reasoned that mortal man's figuring of time—twenty-five years in my case—is unknown to God. Led by this reasoning to a better understanding of Truth, I was able to gain a glimpse of man's perfection as an idea of divine Mind, and I was healed on the spot. I took up my spade and went to work in the garden, and the lumbago did not reappear, nor has it since. This healing took place in 1948.

I sustained an injury to one of my legs when I struck it against the sharp edge of a board. A swelling formed about the size and shape of half an egg, and it persisted stubbornly. I continued my earnest study of Christian Science, which led me to see that I needed no other help than God. I fervently besought Him that I might read rightly and grasp correctly the teachings of our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy. Two days later the leg was perfectly healed. I gave thanks with all my heart that God had answered my prayer with an answer which assured me of having correctly understood the teachings of Christian Science.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

"To those leaning on the sustaining...