I was brought up in a Protestant...

Lyall S. Campbell

I was brought up in a Protestant religion in the fear of the Lord, and I mean fear. I believed that the Lord, although just, was harsh and punishing. I felt that Jesus was kind and tender, but must be far too busy to pay any attention to one small girl. It was not until I was twenty-one that I read in a Sentinel that God is not anthropomorphic, but incorporeal (I had to look up these words in a dictionary), that God is Principle, that He is Life, Truth, Love, Soul, Spirit, and Mind. The explanation of these synonyms for God was so logical and satisfying that I accepted Christian Science without further question.

I have had many healings in Science. Some are so dim in memory that I cannot now recount them. But one stands out. I found myself with a severe heart condition, which had come upon me so gradually and imperceptibly that I was not alert to what was happening until I found myself in trouble. I worked prayerfully for myself, but grew steadily worse. Then one day I had to go upstairs. I had grown to dread the stairs, but I started up slowly. After a few steps I had to stop and lean against the wall to keep myself from blacking out. I was miserable, discouraged, frightened, and very much annoyed with myself.

I remember saying: "Heart! What is heart anyway?" I had been reading something about symbols in some of Mrs. Eddy's writings, and I thought perhaps heart was a symbol of something. Of what—the heart of God? Well, what was the heart of God? Then I thought, Why, the heart of God must be the motive power that runs His universe, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

I was so pleased with this thought that I went upstairs thinking about it, and from that day to this I have never had a return of those frightening and painful symptoms. I did not at once realize that I was so completely healed. I found myself hesitating before bending over to pick something off the floor or walking quickly or shaking out a rug or going out in the hot sun, and so forth, but I was really healed. That was over twenty-five years ago, and I have been active and free from that trouble ever since.

In 1959 I had a difficult experience with my hands and wrists. They swelled up and were very painful and were almost completely lacking in strength. I had difficulty in dressing and feeding myself and felt very helpless. With the help of a Christian Science practitioner this condition cleared up in three months and has not returned.

I am grateful to our loving Father-Mother God, and for Christ Jesus, our Way-shower, and Mrs. Eddy, whose clear consciousness of Truth enabled her to establish the Church of Christ, Scientist, which is such a haven of love and security in this troubled world. And I am indeed grateful for our consecrated practitioners, who help us so lovingly when we turn to them in need.—(Mrs.) Lyall S. Campbell, Northbrook, Illinois.

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Signs of the Times

December 22, 1962

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