Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and...

Gertrude Penistone with contributions from John O. Penistone

Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." I am so grateful that in studying our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, in connection with the Bible, I have to some extent gained the understanding that Life is God.

In the year 1917, during the war, I was passing through a very anxious time. I had heard of Christian Science through a neighbor a few years before this, but had no desire to investigate it for myself. However, man's extremity is indeed God's opportunity; and just here I turned to Christian Science whole-heartedly, and found it indeed the Comforter. With my awakening to the truth that makes free, I was healed in a very short time of anxiety and fear for my husband, who was very ill in a hospital in the Near East. Looking back to that time now, I know that was the beginning of his healing.

I am so grateful to know God as Life, Truth, and Love. During the last five years we have had many proofs in our small family of the healing and regenerating power of divine Love. It is a privilege to attend the church services; and the Sunday school is a blessing for the children. For the many blessings I have had and the beautiful uplift I am experiencing, I am truly grateful.—(Mrs.) Gertrude Penistone, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.

I should like to corroborate my wife's statement. Christian Science has been to us more than words can express. During the war I was drafted out to the Near East. Many times while sitting in my dugout I wondered what we had done to cause all that suffering. I did not know then, as I know now, that I was being brought nearer to God.

While in this mental wilderness I was compelled to go to the advanced dressing station, where the medical officer bluntly told me I was likely to die any minute; in fact, it seemed that he was putting his words into action, for the stretcher on which I lay was placed on two boards and thus I was drawn over mountainous country by a mule to the field ambulance, finally reaching the base hospital. After I had spent several months first in hospital, then in convalescent camp, then back to hospital, again the medical profession gave me up as a hopeless case, and all military rules and regulations went to the wind. I was allowed to do as I chose, as it was only a matter of time!

We learn in Christian Science that there is no distance in divine Mind; and although I was thousands of miles away, the loving thoughts of Truth were operating. My wife, having learned of my position, sought the advice of a loving Christian Scientist, who advised her to send me a pocket edition of the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. If ever a man was in need of the truth it was I; and that little book came at the right moment. My surroundings were as bad as they could be from a human point of view; but I managed to hold out, and was back in England two months after receiving the textbook. On arriving there I had difficulty with the Army authorities, who would not allow me to go home. I was certified as suffering from heart disease and malaria in its worst form. After some six months I got home, and then the military authorities ordered me into a cot in the local hospital. Then the test came: if Christian Science were true, now was the time to prove it. After much discussion I refused to go into the hospital, much against their wishes; but from that day to this I have never had an attack of heart difficulty, nor have I lost a minute from business. I have ridden one hundred miles in one day on a pedal cycle without any after effects.

I am also very grateful for the healing of the tobacco habit. I was a very heavy smoker, but this left me without effort. Christian Science has been the greatest blessing that has ever entered my life and home.

John O. Penistone, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.

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Testimony of Healing

What Christian Science has been to me during the past...

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