Testimony of Healing July 10, 1995 Issue

I have never known what it might be like to be without Christian Science...

Martha Brumbaugh-Peters

I have never known what it might be like to be without Christian Science in dealing with every problem that comes up in my life. As a child, one of the earliest lessons I learned in Sunday School was that although I might have the help of a Christian Science practitioner praying for me, I still needed my own prayer too. I learned that healing occurs with the strengthening of one's own spiritual understanding, and that this happens most readily from individual study.

One of the earliest recollections I have is of my mother teaching me to separate in my thinking the bad, hurting claims of error from the good, sustaining truths of God. As she would repeat "the scientific statement of being," found on page 468 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, I would shake my hands; with every negative, materially based statement I would shake my left hand, and with every positive, absolute statement, I would shake my right hand. Through this playful teaching exercise I learned to separate the mortal error from the spiritual truth in my prayers, and to identify myself only with the truths of God and man.

As an adult, I have experienced healings of flu, colds, a broken finger, a severe burn, and a stubborn skin rash—to name just a few—always as a result of a constant, conscious reliance on God. I have raised three children to know Christian Science, and they have had numerous healings of measles, impetigo, crushed fingers, and chickenpox. They have healed difficult personal relationships as well, and gained admittance to desired schools by turning wholeheartedly to God as the sole source and condition for their living.

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