Testimony of Healing May 19, 1986 Issue

Two summers ago an unsightly skin condition...

FENELLA BENNETTS

Two summers ago an unsightly skin condition developed on my face and gradually appeared on different parts of my body. The difficulty became exceedingly uncomfortable at times, but of greatest concern to me was the fact that I was then serving as First Reader in my branch church. This entailed conducting two Sunday services and a Wednesday testimony meeting each week, standing under a strong light. I did not want my appearance to distract the congregation from the inspiring messages being read from the Bible and from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

There were days between church services when the condition was so unsightly that I felt unable to go out in public. Yet, throughout this period, the spiritual preparation necessary to serve as a Reader, and the conviction that our dual pastor—the Bible and Science and Health—was doing the preaching, lifted me above all thoughts of self during the services. Later I learned that the physical difficulty was not generally apparent to the congregation.

Gradually I found myself being forced to higher spiritual ground. I was struck by mention in the Bible of the times when Moses' and Jesus' skin shone. This occurred on occasions when each had just been communing with God. In pondering these Biblical accounts I saw clearly that at such times it was the individual's spiritually illumined thought that was being perceived, not his skin tone. So I needed to affirm my true identity as wholly spiritual, completely independent of matter, the radiant and eternal reflection of God's being.

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