Testimony of Healing January 12, 1981 Issue

My mother was introduced to Christian Science...

JAMES HOWARD NELSON with contributions from BETTY NELSON

My mother was introduced to Christian Science when I was in my early teens. She was healed of heart trouble, and soon we three children were enrolled in the Christian Science Sunday School. Later, however, I drifted away from this teaching. But I found my way back when I seemed very much alone and felt an urge to know God and my relationship to Him. Praying for guidance, I knew my answer lay in the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. As I studied these two books, I felt peaceful and directed. And over the past sixty years I have had many healings through prayer by recognizing man's oneness with his loving Father-Mother God, who is man's Life.

One time my wife and I were returning from a drive at dusk when visibility was limited. Suddenly, my wife noticed two small girls attempting to cross the busy thoroughfare. She cried out to warn me, and I applied the brakes. The older girl made it to the center barrier, but the younger one (who was eight years old) was struck and thrown a number of feet. I ran to her, knelt down, and prayed. I denied the possibility of accidents in God's kingdom and acknowledged that God was her life. I thoughtfully repeated "the scientific statement of being" from Science and Health, which begins (p. 468): "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all." There appeared to be no breathing, and the child's eyes were open and glazed. A large crowd soon gathered, but I continued to pray while the police and an ambulance were summoned. I kept affirming that the youngster was God's reflection and therefore her life could not be destroyed. Suddenly, the child gave a little cry, her eyes closed, and her color was restored. The police absolved me from any liability. However, after they'd observed the serious damage to the front of our car, they offered little hope for the girl's survival. She was taken to the hospital, where her condition was pronounced "fair."

At home I felt quite disturbed, but I was grateful to hear over the radio that evening that "a child had a miraculous escape when struck by a car on a busy highway, and was only bruised." Two days later I went to the hospital to see her. She was sitting up, a picture of health, much to the surprise of those in charge. There were no broken bones or internal injuries. She was kept under observation for a week, and she returned to school in two weeks.

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