Testimony of Healing February 1, 1969 Issue

Although I attended a Christian Science Sunday School regularly...

John Brian Berry with contributions from Diana Berry

Although I attended a Christian Science Sunday School regularly from the age of five, I did not make Christian Science my own until after I had left home to go to college. Although I had hoped to avoid having to leave home, I came to realize afterward how much this step benefited me, for it taught me to stand on my own feet. This working out was the first of a number of occasions on which I came to learn that what divine Mind has planned for us is far better than anything we ourselves could devise.

The first important healing I experienced during my student days was that of most intense shyness and self-consciousness. It was vital to the success of my chosen career that this mental condition be lifted from me, as I very much desired to become a teacher. I could not bear even the thought of speaking in front of a group of people. My release from this state of thought came about in quite an interesting way.

I had joined a Youth Forum, and not long afterward I was elected president. In this capacity I was expected to make a speech at a Parents and Friends Night before an audience of one hundred and fifty people. My first reaction to this assignment was to tell the other members of the Forum that I just wouldn't be able to do it. They pointed out kindly but firmly that it was one of the duties of a president and in accepting that office I had undertaken to do everything that it entailed. This reply made me feel very disturbed about the situation, and so I turned to the Christian Science Quarterly Lesson-Sermon for that week. It was on "Mind." The study of this lesson helped to calm my fears because it showed that all the ability we need comes from divine Mind.

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With a heart filled with gratitude, I offer my testimony