Years ago my first testimony appeared in the Sentinel. Since that time there have been countless opportunities to prove God's goodness and healing presence. One Sunday afternoon my hand was so severely cut that I almost fainted. But I turned to God's loving care right with me, and realized "It's not my hand I have to worry about; it's what I think about my hand." I saw more clearly than ever before the distinction between Spirit and matter. The excessive bleeding and pain ceased. I called a Christian Science practitioner for treatment. And I continued to pray, knowing that I was not physical, but am a spiritual idea. And as a spiritual idea, I could not be injured. The next day I drove the car, and by Wednesday I was comfortably doing the family ironing. My hand was fully restored to use at this time and the visible effects faded within days.

During the Vietnam War, our oldest son was in the Marine Corps and was serving in Vietnam. Consecrated prayer was absolutely necessary every single day and night, as my fear for him was at times overwhelming. Usually we received a letter every week or so from him, but at one point we had had no word from him for three weeks, then a month. Coming home from work each day and finding no letter, I became very depressed and almost unable to function. One day while I was lying on the couch and trying to pray, these words from Science and Health came to me clearly: "The intercommunication is always from God to His idea, man" (p. 284). At that moment I knew God was communicating with our son, just as surely as God was communicating with me through this message. I knew without any doubt that our son was safe. I got up, free from fear, and happily prepared dinner for the family. The next morning at work I received a telephone call from my husband to tell me there were two letters from our son and all was well. The joy of that moment, together with realizing that freedom had come even before the letters had arrived, was a precious and unforgettable proof of God's enduring love. Some months later our son returned home safely.

What appeared to be a kidney infection was healed with the loving, prayerful help of a practitioner. The director of the school where I was teaching when this occurred at first wanted to call the paramedics, but, respecting my wishes, she called the practitioner, who drove me home. The practitioner stayed with me, praying, until family members arrived. It seemed impossible for me to study, and the pain was intense. I was able to remember healing words from the Christian Science Hymnal, however, and I held fast to their inspiring messages from noon until midnight, when the pain ceased completely. During those hours I was never afraid. I was leaning on my God and feeling His healing presence with me in that room. This healing has been permanent. Other healings include grief, burns, fallen arches, lack, asthma, high fever, pneumonia, nervous breakdown, resolution of unemployment, back injury, migraine headaches. My heart is filled with gratitude to God. In Isaiah the Bible says, "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light" (9:2). This light of Truth, Christian Science, continues to lead me every step of the way.

Mary Ann Jackson
Redondo Beach, California