I am deeply grateful for the lifetime of blessings Christian Science has brought to me and my family.

About sixty-five years ago I first witnessed Christian Science healing, when my mother was freed from chronic indigestion and my brother was healed of a hearing deficiency that caused him difficulty in schoolwork. So complete was his healing that in World War The was accepted in the tank corps. I was myself healed of chronic tonsillitis. Throughout the many years since, I have had and I have seen Christian Science healings. Many have resulted from my own prayer; others have taken place with the help of practitioners. An indication of my general well-being is the fact that during my last twenty-eight years of teaching I was absent from my work because of illness no more than six days.

When I was in high school, I experienced an incontrovertible proof of the preventive effectiveness of a spiritually inspired declaration of truth. I was carrying an aluminum pot of boiling liquid up some steps, when I stumbled. I foresaw the spill but could not move the pot away because instead of using a pot holder I had grasped the handle with folds of my apron. The statement "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter" (Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, p. 468) flashed through my thought. The liquid poured over one leg from my knee to my foot, saturating my hose and filling my shoe. There was, however, no pain, not even for an instant, nor was there any evidence of a scald. That seeming miracle firmly established my confidence in the power of God, and the memory of that experience has fortified me again and again through the years.

Before the advent of television there was a so-called "educational" airing on radio of the symptoms of cancer. Evidently I was not sufficiently alert, for the symptoms began to appear on my body. Because of the circumstances it was obvious to me that the conditions were merely false mental pictures I had accepted. Although the symptoms went through many of the described stages, I was able to be in my classroom without interruption. During the last week of school I had prayerful treatment by a practitioner, and the healing was completed that week and has been permanent.

While on a European tour, in great pain and unable to walk, I was taken to a hospital with what was there diagnosed as rheumatic fever. I was carried into the hospital on Sunday, but on the following Tuesday, having had no medical treatment, I walked out of the hospital and joined my touring group. On the following Thursday I was able to climb about at the walled city of Carcassonne. Some pain lingered when I returned home, but freedom came as resentment at the passing on of my husband was cleared out of my thinking.

My husband had been healed of tuberculosis through Christian Science before our marriage. Science brought healings to our children, who now have children of their own, some of whom are already members of The Mother Church.

I have described but three of many demonstrations. Others were quick healings of nervous collapse, a slipped disk, uremic poisoning, sunburn, stroke, sinus pain, some so-called children's diseases, and one illness which appeared to be pneumonia. Some other healings, which took longer, were those of bursitis and fallen arches. My husband and I gratefully recognized our very happy marriage as the result of Christian Science prayerful work.

Is it any wonder that I am profoundly grateful to Mrs. Eddy through whom the healing Christ has been restored to this age as promised by Christ Jesus?

(Mrs.) Ruth Bailey Stephens
Laguna Hills, California