Testimony of Healing July 29, 1996 Issue

In the mid-1980s, while attempting to renew my Australian...

Abigail Mathieson Trout

In the mid-1980s, while attempting to renew my Australian passport, I was deprived of my Australian citizenship and, therefore, my passport. I was living in South Africa at the time, and the consular officer stated that I had never been registered as an Australian and had no right to citizenship. My father was sure I had been registered, but the officer refused to investigate our claim.

I was shocked to find myself stateless. Eighteen months later, when I needed a passport to travel overseas to take Christian Science class instruction, I took out South African citizenship. After marrying and pursuing graduate study in the United States, my husband and I wished to return to Australia. I remained convinced in my heart that I truly was an Australian citizen. We decided to apply for Australian residency through the points system (a skill-based application test) and moved to England (my husband is British) to embark on the lengthy application process.

While thinking about my situation at this point, I was directed to Mary Baker Eddy's statement "One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself;' annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry,—whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 340).

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