It was by a gradual growth into the understanding of...

Lewis R. Stoy

It was by a gradual growth into the understanding of the teachings of Christian Science, that I was able to experience the peace and assurance which come "with some measure of power and grace to all prepared to receive Christ, Truth" (Science and Health, p. 333). From early life I had been a member of an orthodox church, and was taught that God is Love, but that He is also a God of vengeance. I had always been active in church work ; had been for over ten years superintendent of a large Sunday School, and loved the service of the Master, trying to follow his teachings as I understood them, but the continual appearance of trouble and disappointment in my life led me to think that for some cause I was being either disciplined or punished. I could not reconcile myself to the fact that I received no answer to my prayers of supplication, but through it all I retained my belief in God. Formerly I had localized God, had unconsciously given Him a form, and associated with Him two other beings of only a little lower power ; then I grew into the understanding of God as a presence, as the Supreme Being who was all powerful; but I was still unable to understand the quality or nature of this Being.

As this time I met with an accident which came near costing me my life. I was compelled to use crutches or a cane for over a year, and it was during this time that more financial and business trouble came to me. My wife had become interested in Christian Science through reading "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" to an invalid, and being convinced of the truth of Mrs. Eddy's teachings, she determined to find out all she could of this Science. I was impressed with her absorbed interest in this study and application of its teachings, and would occasionally read from Science and Health or from The Christian Science Journal; but the old faith of my fathers, and the church relationships of a lifetime, were too strong to be easily broken, and I gave up the reading.

As my condition, both physical and mental, continued to be discouraging, I at last consented to consult a Christian Science practitioner. Previous to this time I had seen many proofs of the truth of Science in my own home,—in the overcoming of sickness and pain that had formerly confined the patient to bed, although an alarming amount of medicine was taken ; and in the instantaneous demonstration over a severe blow and cut on the head and face. I saw that results were being obtained from my wife's understanding of Christian Science, and the application of its rules, which seemed to be demonstrated with mathematical accuracy; while I was receiving no benefits,—no results from my way of thinking. I went to the practitioner with little hope of relief for myself, for while I could see the benefits derived by others, and believed that God could do all things if He would, the old theology still ruled my thought, and I had come to believe that I must be resigned to the will of God, and that His will was not for my present relief. I, however, entered on the course of reading given to me, with the determination to put aside all preconceived opinions about God, to keep my thought open and receptive, make an unbiased investigation, and see just what it was that Christian Scientists believed and why they believed it.

The teachings of Mrs. Eddy were explained to me very carefully, and I soon came to see that God is not a God of vengeance, but is Love, and knows no evil. I began to learn the truth about God and man, that as God is perfect. His creation must be spiritual and perfect. I had believed in God, but had not understood the allness of God; I had believed there was life, intelligence, and substance in matter; I now began to realize the line of demarcation between the divine Mind and the so called human mind, and from discouragement and despondency I awakened to a sense of the reality of good. After the third treatment my foot, which had never recovered from the accident, became perfectly strong and well. For about fifteen months I had been suffering from a cough believed to be peculiar to my family, which had been aggravated in the spring by a severe cold, and I had been unable to overcome it with medicine. Returning home one Wednesday about one o'clock, I was seized with a very hard chill. Formerly this would have been regarded as a harbinger of a severe illness, but we telephoned to the practitioner; in a short time the ailment was overcome, and I was able to attend the evening service. Not only were there no bad effects from the chill, but within five days the cough had entirely disappeared.

With these evident manifestations of the healing power of Truth, with the knowledge that I must let God, good, rule me, and knowing that God is Spirit, Life, Truth, Love, I came to recognize man's spiritual being, to realize what it means to be God's idea, His expression. I then saw that the old life, old beliefs, old thoughts were no longer possible with me. that I had to "come out" from them, for honesty compelled me to acknowledge the source of the benefits I had received. I had believed evil to be as powerful as good, but in Christian Science I learned to know that "there is no power apart from God" (Science and Health, p. 228). I could now understand a demonstration over sickness, but one over business difficulties was not so easy to realize; yet since God could heal sickness He could also heal the darkened conditions of human experience, and Christ, Truth, shows us the way. Casting aside self, and overcoming the sense of limitation and self-depreciation with a knowledge that God is all-power, all-presence, that He is the source of all supply and that it was mine if I came under the law of Love, I was enable to make this demonstration also.

The more I study and work in Christian Science, the more the beauty of the unfolding of the Love that is God is made manifest to me, and the greater is my desire to rise into a clearer understanding of this truth which is uncovering error and proving its unreality and impotence; and the more do I appreciate Mrs. Eddy's years of loving and patient effort to give her discovery do the world, with the proof in her own life, during recent events, of the powerlessness of evil and the allness of God.

Lewis R. Stoy, New Albany, Ind.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

Our infant daughter took a hard cold, which seemed...

January 18, 1908

Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit