Testimony of Healing December 22, 1980 Issue

The Scriptures are timeless sacred records that are relevant to us...

ELIZABETH M. BARTMAN

The Scriptures are timeless sacred records that are relevant to us today. To spiritually understand them is to receive proof that man is God's reflection. As one follows the example of Christ Jesus, he or she glorifies God, who "so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

In my youth questions about relationships, intelligence, and identity plagued me. I sought answers from ministers, doctors, and teachers but received no satisfactory response. As a young woman, I attended my first Sunday service of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist. What I heard there convinced me that I would find the answers to my questions. The brilliant clarification of the relationship of God to man ensured my success. Mrs. Eddy's words from the Explanatory Note for the Bible Lessons, given in the Christian Science Quarterly, stood out as a beacon (p. 2): "The canonical writings, together with the word of our textbook, corroborating and explaining the Bible texts in their spiritual import and application to all ages, past, present, and future, constitute a sermon undivorced from truth, uncontaminated and unfettered by human hypotheses, and divinely authorized."

About a year later I was having a great deal of difficulty in my work. One bleak and lonely day I felt totally incapable of coping with it. Tearfully, I turned to God, then opened the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, at random. My eyes fell on the definition of God in the Glossary (p. 587): "The great I AM; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence." Pondering the concept of God as "The great I AM," the source of intelligence, brought such an influx of spiritual understanding that for three days I moved in a world of joy. After that, I grew to be master of my work, and this sense of dominion continued until my retirement twenty-three years later. During those years I came to understand how God supplies one's ability to express His grace in public speaking and in relationships with others. During those working years, I drove my car many miles in complete safety over highways and country roads in western Canada. I also had the same awareness of the Father's protective care while traveling in a foreign country.

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