For over ten years I have been...

Charlotte Gaines with contributions from Florence Mallory Gaines

For over ten years I have been grateful for the healing power of Christian Science, and I should like to share some of my joy with others.

I was instantly healed of influenza when studying Hymn No. 95 in the Christian Science Hymnal, the lovely words of which begin, "He leadeth me, O blessed thought." Having been reared in an orthodox faith, I had always thought these words meant that the human Jesus would some day in some strange way come back to earth and lead me to salvation.

However, when it was revealed to me that it is the Christ, Truth, that heals now and in all time to come and that salvation is thus an ever-present possibility, I was entirely free from the influenza.

In many avenues of daily life, I have had proofs of God's care, for which I am grateful; but a testing time came when my mother passed on. I have always been comforted by Christ Jesus' statement from the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6:8), "Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." And before the need was made manifest in my experience, divine Love had already supplied the truth with which to destroy the errors of grief and loss associated with the belief of death.

My help came from a beautiful solo prayerfully sung in a Church of Christ, Scientist. I was so uplifted by its healing message that when I received the long-distance call telling me of my mother's passing, the opening words of the solo, "The everlasting arms," came to my thought at once and comforted me, giving me a wonderful sense of the ever-presence of divine Love.

I stood quietly a few moments to clear my thought and then called a friend who is an experienced Christian Scientist. Although it was about four thirty in the morning, I shall never forget the love and compassion she expressed as she reminded me that the true sense of motherhood cannot be lost and that this was the time for me to be a witness to the healing and comforting power of Christian Science.

I have never felt such a surge of spiritual strength as I felt when I realized that this was indeed a real opportunity to let others see what my understanding of God, gained through my study of Christian Science, could do. When I arrived at my home town several hours later, I found my father poised and calm. There was never any grief or despair expressed, and many times during the days that followed we had the opportunity to comfort those who had come to express their sympathy.

On one occasion a friend said, "You folks have been an inspiration." I thought of Mrs. Eddy's statements (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 210): "Good thoughts are an impervious armor; clad therewith you are completely shielded from the attacks of error of every sort. And not only yourselves are safe, but all whom your thoughts rest upon are thereby benefited."

My life has indeed been enriched by the study of Christian Science and a greater understanding of God and of man's relationship to Him. I can never express enough gratitude for Christ Jesus and for Mrs. Eddy, who gave the world this final revelation of Truth, for the joy of being a part of the Christian Science movement as a member of The Mother Church and a branch church, and for the sacred privilege of class instruction.—(Miss) Charlotte Gaines, Atlanta, Georgia.

I should like to add my testimony to that of my daughter. Though I am not a Christian Scientist, I am happy that all her needs have been met through this healing faith. The growth and progress in her life have been a blessing to me, and in the experience of my wife's passing, the healing power of Christian Science was clearly evident to both of us.—(Rev.) Florence Mallory Gaines, Macon, Georgia.

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