Notices

GUIDELINES FOR WRITING TESTIMONIES

We are always happy to receive testimonies. We offer the following information for contributors who may be seeking some guidelines on writing reports of healing.

When writing anything, it is helpful to consider the audience—all those who might be reading the words. In the case of the Christian Science magazines, this could be just about anyone. Some readers are very familiar with Christian Science. Others may be quite new to its teachings. We suggest that you consider giving your testimony as thought you were speaking to someone who did not have a familiarity with prayer and with the way it is connected to healing. This means speaking in language that is clear, simple, and logical—in language that explains the ideas you are sharing, rather than in phrases and expressions that may be unfamiliar to new readers.

The link between prayer and healing is very important to discuss. Try to describe the way in which spiritual reasoning, and the understanding of the laws of God, had a direct influence on your life, and how they brought physical or moral improvement. Explain how you prayed—how you disciplined your thinking. Use quotations from the Bible and from Mary Baker Eddy's writings when appropriate, showing how they apply specifically to the healing you are relating.

We encourage you specifically to send healings that are fairly current, because these help to inspire readers with the truth that Christian healing is ongoing and contemporary. There is always a particular need to publish strong evidence of physical healing that has come through prayer. The physical healings we publish have been permanent for at least one year by the time they appear in print.

Single experiences of healing, told in some detail, are of a type that especially helps readers. We know that it would not be desirable for every testimony to dwell exclusively on one experience, but we encourage you to construct your testimony along these lines when it seems appropriate.

Here are a few useful questions to ask yourself in writing your testimony:

• What distinguishes this healing from chance, happenstance, or just letting events "run their course"?

• Was there a particular point in the experience when there was a clear change in thought and I knew I was healed? How can I explain this transformation that brought about outward healing effects?

• How can I explain that healing was the direct result of prayer and spiritual understanding?

• Is the testimony I have written something I feel my neighbor would be able to understand and appreciate?

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PRACTITIONERS

... devote their time to assisting others through prayer. If you need help—or would simply like to learn more about Christian Science—a worldwide list of those professionally engaged in this healing ministry can be found in The Christian Science Journal. A partial list is printed in The Herald of Christian Science. You can obtain these periodicals at any Christian Science Reading Room. See the telephone directory for the Reading Room nearest you.