Although I had been reared in Christian Science, I succumbed at...

Bernice K. Ripley

Although I had been reared in Christian Science, I succumbed at the age of forty or so to the general belief that I needed eyeglasses. It seemed easier to read with them and easier not to put them on and off, so I wore them all the time for over twenty-five years.

Several years ago I became more and more impressed with the articles and testimonies in the Christian Science periodicals regarding sight, and I had a great desire to demonstrate these truths. I realized more clearly that seeing is indeed a mental process and, as I had always known, that we do not see with matter but with intelligence. Mrs. Eddy defines "eyes" in the textbook, Science and Health (p. 586):

"Spiritual discernment,—not material but mental.

"Jesus said, thinking of the outward vision, 'Having eyes, see ye not?' (Mark viii. 18.)"

When inspired by this definition of "eyes" and the articles and testimonies, I often took my glasses off and tried to read without them, while realizing the spiritual idea of sight. Every time I made this effort I could see more clearly. There was never a feeling of forcing myself to do this, rather a sense of loving to do it. As we read in Philippians (2:13), "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." So indeed the will to do, as well as the doing, was God-inspired, and I began to realize and to acknowledge that I could see easily without using my glasses, so I discarded them and can now read without any difficulty.

I am most grateful that I had the desire to keep on trying, and I hope this testimony may encourage others. Mrs. Eddy tells us (Science and Health, p. 199), "The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible."

(Mrs.) Bernice K. Ripley
Boston, Massachusetts

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RADIO PROGRAM NO. 403 - The Christmas Message and Today's World

December 27, 1969

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