Testimony of Healing March 4, 1967 Issue

In 1945, while I was stationed on Iwo Jima with the Army Air Force,...

Marvin D. Nafie

In 1945, while I was stationed on Iwo Jima with the Army Air Force, a single-engine fighter plane that I was piloting went out of control while making a slow speed turn in a vertical attitude. The plane plunged toward the sea with a locked rudder, forced in the extreme position by a crossover of the air stream in front of the dorsal fin. All my efforts to correct the skidding dive failed, but at that moment, as the distance to the water grew shorter, I recalled a Christian Science Sunday School class discussion of the saying that "man's extremity is God's opportunity." This thought was enough to break the mesmeric fear. Placing both feet on one rudder and pulling with both hands on the control stick, I was able to pull the plane out of the dive with only a few feet to spare.

During the remainder of my service experience there were many instances of protection resulting from daily application of the truths learned in the Christian Science Sunday School and regular study of the Lesson-Sermon, published in the Quarterly.

Seven years ago the company where I was employed was sold to a larger corporation. Since it was in the midst of an automotive model year, some of the key personnel were retained in their respective jobs. I was assured of being retained, but my wife and I deemed it wise to protect this assurance with prayerful work in Christian Science. Acknowledging that my only work is to "be about my Father's business" (Luke 2:49), I rejected any sense of chance or any fear of lack.

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