Testimony of Healing August 16, 1999 Issue

Poison proved harmless

H. Lance Crosby

In the spring of 1939 I was involved with a research project in the chemistry department of my college as a requirement for an advanced degree. The work involved the preparation of heavy electroplated deposits of silver on steel. To accomplish this, I had set up a battery of a half dozen baths of plating fluid in 600cc (approximately a pint) glass beakers. For silver-plating, these baths were saturated solutions (meaning as concentrated as they can be) of potassium cyanide. This chemical is considered to be very deadly if ingested.

One Saturday I went to the laboratory to inspect the progress of my project. There was no one else in the large building. At one point I picked up a beaker of the plating solution and held it up to an overhead light to see if there was any sediment settling out on the bottom. Naturally, I had my mouth wide-open. Suddenly the beaker crushed in my hand as though it were an eggshell, dumping the solution over my face, into my mouth, and down the front of my clothes. My immediate thought was of Jesus' statement to his disciples, referring to them that believe, "If they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them" (Mark 16:18). I felt no panic, but walked to the sink, washed out my mouth, and washed my face. It then occurred to me that I should probably call a Christian Science practitioner to pray for me as well. To do this I had to walk to a nearby residence hall, where I knew there was a public telephone.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

Prayer calms swimmer far from shore