Testimony of Healing August 5, 1967 Issue

The blessings of Christian Science have been bountiful in my...

Nancy R. Andersen

The blessings of Christian Science have been bountiful in my life. Since I began the study of this Science, I have found that my desire to be obedient to the Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy, and indeed to the instructions which we find throughout her writings, has enabled me to put off many phases of materialism which would blind me to the presence of spiritual ideas and the joy of spiritual activity.

Mrs. Eddy writes on page 406 of Science and Health: "The depraved appetite for alcoholic drinks, tobacco, tea, coffee, opium, is destroyed only by Mind's mastery of the body. This normal control is gained through divine strength and understanding." These words awakened in my thinking the willingness to be freed from any enslaving habits, even though they were not of an excessive nature. Part of it was easy. The use of drugs was easily laid aside when I discovered the efficacy of spiritual healing. Neither tobacco nor alcoholic drinks were any special problem to me, and I quickly put an end to my occasional indulgence when I learned that to become a member of The Mother Church and to be a part of its glorious movement I had to be free of smoking and drinking.

However, the use of tea and coffee was a different problem. Over a period of years I quit drinking them several times, but always returned to their use with varied excuses: that I didn't really have a depraved appetite for them because it was not excessive; that I was using them only as a beverage or a warm drink or to be sociable; that such small amounts were not really stimulants. Still, deep inside I could never really accept my own rationalizing, because I knew that absolute abstinence from drugs, alcohol, and tobacco was a requisite to become a member of The Mother Church, and since Mrs. Eddy linked tea and coffee with them, she must have expected complete abstinence from these also.

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It is with great joy and gratitude to God for Mrs. Eddy, who...
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