My mother became interested in Christian Science several...

Imogen Andre

My mother became interested in Christian Science several years before I gave it much thought. I was very young then, and believed that material pleasures could satisfy. Our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, says in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 265, 266), "The pains of sense are salutary, if they wrench away false pleasurable beliefs and transplant the affections from sense to Soul, where the creations of God are good, 'rejoicing the heart.' " I am grateful that an experience occurred which awakened me to the illusory nature of false material pleasures and taught me "not to lean on a material staff,—a broken reed, which pierces the heart" (ibid., p. 66).

A severe sense of sorrow and loss robbed me of happiness and peace of mind, and led to a state of mental unrest which threatened to undermine my health. In this extremity I began a serious study of Christian Science. Many times when seemingly overcome by grief, I forced myself to sing the comforting messages contained in our beautiful hymns, until the pain was eased, and what began as a forced expression of courage became a genuine manifestation of faith and confidence. Gradually, complete and permanent healing came. Bitterness, heartache, discontant—all were swept away, and replaced by peace, joy, contentment, gratitude.

I have also had many physical healings, among them of influenza, pleurisy, lung trouble accompanied by severe hemorrhages, and an habitual sense of weakness and fatigue. These healings have all been permanent, and I now enjoy better health and greater strength than I have experienced since childhood.

I should like to tell of an instantaneous healing which has meant much to me. One day, while standing on a stepladder, I lost my balance and fell, striking the floor heavily on my right shoulder with the right arm doubled under me. The pain was so intense that the gentle touch of a friend, who offered assistance, could not be endured. The friend, who is a Christian Science practitioner, began to work for me, and a clear sense of the import of "the scientific statement of being" (ibid., p. 468) stole into my consciousness. I lay for perhaps a minute, when every suggestion of pain left me and I arose entirely free. The shoulder showed no sign of a bruise, and there was no lameness in the arm. I continued the strenuous work in which I had been engaged when the accident occurred, without the slightest inconvenience or discomfort.

How much we owe to our dear Leader for revealing to the world this wonderful understanding of God! When I consider the purity of heart, the clearness of vision, the steadfastness of purpose, and the unselfish devotion which she manifested in establishing the Cause of Christian Science, I am more grateful than I know how to say. I am unspeakably grateful for the many channels provided for disseminating this blessed truth to all mankind, and am deeply appreciative of the opportunity of participating in the joyous activities of church membership. I sincerely pray that I may give evidence of my gratitude by daily becoming more obedient to the teachings of Christian Science.

(Miss) Imogen Andre, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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