Testimony of Healing March 17, 1986 Issue

Many years ago, after my older brother had passed on with...

EFFIE L. RUSSELL

Many years ago, after my older brother had passed on with what the doctors pronounced to be tuberculosis, I began to cough and lose weight rapidly. It was requested of all family members that we have chest X-rays because the disease seemed to be hereditary. The doctor who was head of the tuberculosis sanitarium was a close friend of the family. After studying my X-ray, he wrote me a letter saying that he was very sorry but my X-ray showed I had cardiac asthma for which there was no known cure.

At that point I had been studying Christian Science for three or four years. I asked for prayerful help from a Christian Science practitioner. Much persistent prayer was needed as the healing did not come quickly. For six months I slept every night sitting up in a chair, for I could breathe more easily that way. Still, I was able to carry on my daily duties as postmaster and also manage our grocery store most of the time.

When it came time for vacation, my husband and I asked two relatives to go with us on a trip up the East Coast. While we were in Washington, we were on a tour through the Capitol when a sudden attack sent me to the lounge. There I began reading an issue of the Sentinel and affirming my unity with God. The attack soon subsided, but one of my relatives told me that if I did not go to a doctor, I was going to die and also that I would lose my soul studying Christian Science. I replied that I would not die but live and glorify God, for "in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28). I added that since Soul is a synonym for God and man is God's image and likeness, I could never be separated from Soul.