PRAYER HEALS TUBERCULOSIS
During World War II, while I was purser on a merchant ship, I began experiencing some physical difficulties. A friend suggested that since we were near Panama, perhaps I should go ashore to the hospital for an examination. Although I usually relied on prayer for healing, I decided to take my friend's suggestion, and after an examination, I was informed that I had advanced tuberculosis, and that if I lived, which the doctor seemed to think was doubtful, I would be an invalid or semi-invalid and could probably never work. They transferred me immediately to a restricted ward for patients with this condition. Going back to my ship was denied. I was, however, allowed to telephone a Christian Science Wartime Minister. After some time I was shipped back to New York on a navy hospital ship, and from there I was able to return home.
The first thing I did once I was home was to contact a Christian Science practitioner. We prayed together for many months, solving this problem. One of the citations he encouraged me to pray with was from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy: "Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual,—neither in nor of matter,—and the body will then utter no complaints. If suffering from a belief in sickness, you will find yourself suddenly well" (p. 14 ).
I wished to further my education, but in order to enroll at a university, a tuberculosis test was required. The result of the test was positive, so I could not continue with my plans. Because I was no longer active in the merchant marine, my draft classification was changed to 1A. I was then called to be examined for induction into the army. After the physical examination, the officer asked how I had gotten downtown. I told him that I had driven down in my car. He then informed me that if he had an ambulance available, he would send me home in it, as my condition seemed that critical to him.
Because of the tests at the university, the public health department in my city was going to require an examination in about six weeks to determine whether I would be incarcerated in a tuberculosis sanitarium. After the army examination, I realized that it was time to wake up from this illusion. This picture certainly was not me, but I had to know that it wasn't.
Science and Health explains, "For right reasoning there should be but one fact before the thought, namely, spiritual existence" (p. 492 ). During this time I prayed more diligently than I ever had before. The day came when I had to drive downtown for the public health department's examination. As I entered the building, suddenly I knew with absolute certainty that, no matter what they told me or what they seemed to see, I was the perfect expression of God's being. I continued to the appointment rejoicing, happy, and certain of my perfection. A very kind doctor examined me and told me there was nothing there, and if there had been, it was certainly not there now. That is what Christian Science has done for me.
I am a general contractor and builder, having worked in that capacity most of my life. I enjoy tennis and ballroom dancing and am active in my branch Church of Christ, Scientist, and its Reading Room. It is a joy to see what Christian Science and its study can accomplish and to know that God is Life.
Ronald E. Knowlen
Sherman Oaks, California
Excerpted from a testimony originally published in the Christian Science Sentinel (October 4, 1999).
