Testimony of Healing February 23, 1974 Issue

I would like to express my deep gratitude for the love of God,...

Lawrence Ralph Olsen

I would like to express my deep gratitude for the love of God, to which I am bearing witness in many instances of protection and healing. I also wish to give thanks for Jesus' enduring example of the Christ and for Mrs. Eddy, who discovered and founded Christian Science. They stand before us as constant reminders of God's ever-present care and of our ability to demonstrate in some measure our unity with the Father. Truly, as divine Principle is unfolded to me, I can say more surely, as Jesus did, that "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30).

Though every healing is a most beautiful experience, two in particular are very special to me. The first occurred several years ago. I had gone home, with a friend, for a long weekend vacation from college. One afternoon we took a walk through the woods and fields near my family's cottage. During the afternoon we decided to take back some wild grasses and shrubbery for her room. Some of what we picked turned out to be poison sumac, as I later learned. Though there was no immediate effect, the first morning back at school I awoke to find I had a bad case of sumac poisoning. I decided to take the day off from classes for prayerful study. At that point, however, fear was the most prominent thing in my thinking.

Later in the day, when it was apparent that my own prayer was not bringing any visible improvement, I called a Christian Science practitioner for help. His calm and reassuring words broke the fear that was preventing me from handling the problem. And his refusal to accept the condition as real led me to see that what was required of me was to realize for myself that man, the child of an all-loving God, is not subject to any material power. God's creation is wholly good. Therefore nothing exists in His creation that can inflict illness or discomfort on His sons and daughters. In less than two days there had been sufficient progress to allow me to return to classes. During those days the consecrated work of the practitioner, the loving care of many friends and a Christian Science nurse, and my own study had lifted my thought to its rightful freedom. And very soon all physical symptoms of the condition had disappeared.

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