Testimony of Healing August 27, 2012 Issue

Flu healed on the March

Calvin Fortbrook

During basic training in the army, I had a healing that proved to me beyond an iota of doubt that God is always present and caring for us, no matter where we are. My company had just returned to our barracks after lunch, and as we were preparing to “fall out” (line up in formation in front of our respective barracks), the symptoms of flu suddenly overwhelmed me. Since I had entered the military as a dedicated student of Christian Science, I didn’t want to go to sick bay. In the hubbub of activity involved in falling out, I naively asked the sergeant in charge of herding the troops if I could call a Christian Science practitioner. The look on his face defined “bewilderment.” Not only had he never heard of Christian Science, but he certainly had no idea what a Christian Science practitioner was. Hardly breaking stride, the sergeant turned to me, called me by my last name, and blurted, “Fall out!” 

My legs were like rubber. I could hardly stand, but I obeyed his command. Turning to God without reservation, I was unaware of the position I took in the formation. I soon discovered that where I stood required me, when we approached an intersection, to “break ranks”—run forward double-time and stand at parade rest, wait for the entire company to pass the intersection, and then return to my original position, on the double. The alarming thought came, “How can I do this?” I could hardly stand, much less march double-time! 

At this point I reached out with all my heart to our always-present Father-Mother God. I acknowledged God’s perfection and power and affirmed that I was His child, willing to listen to whatever message He had for me. This was a repeated prayer of conviction and total trust, an unconditional yielding to the actuality of God’s love for me at that moment. Then, above the collective thump of army boots and the sergeant’s calls of cadence as we marched, a thought came loud and clear: “God is my life.” I didn’t question this Christ-message. I took it in with a solid conviction that this was God speaking to me, and I clung steadfastly to the concept as real and true. I let it embrace my thought, and I remember repeating it several times. This gave me courage to proceed unmoved by the claims of material sense testimony. Soon we arrived at the dentist’s office, the objective of the company march. As I sat waiting to be called, I continued to pray, focusing on something I had learned in Sunday School—“the scientific statement of being” from page 468 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

Exhaustion and cold symptoms healed