On Giving Testimonies

RUTH INGRAHAM

IS there someone who seems held to his seat by a nameless fear from the time the Wednesday evening meeting is open for the giving of testimonies until the closing hymn, and who then goes home depressed by self-condemnation because of his failure to testify? Instead of again yielding to this self-mesmerism, let him look into the love-lighted faces of the Scientists around him, many of whom are probably well-proved friends and coworkers, good comrades through shadows and sunshine. Does he fear them? No! Then let him rejoice in this association with the spiritually-minded until he feels a mounting sense of loving kinship with them all, and is ready to exclaim with Jacob, "This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." Then perfect love will have cast out fear, and he will find himself both host and guest, gladly sharing the fruits of Life.

One need not burden himself with the belief that his first testimony must be a complete recital of the experiences which brought him into Christian Science. The fear of not being able to do this adequately often holds one back from expressing even a measure of his gratitude. Would it not be better to make a beginning in at least a sentence or two of thanksgiving, and then wait until another time to express a little more? Maturing experience, increasing confidence, will bring fuller expression. After all, brevity is not undesirable. What the hungry listener wants is the assurance that we have found God and have felt His healing touch. Is it so hard to give this assurance?

If we were to meet a bewildered stranger in the streets of our home town and he asked the way, would it not be a very simple thing to direct him aright? If he had lost his purse and we had just picked it up, would it not be a joy to restore it and relieve his anxiety? If he had come from a country rife with war, tumult, and oppression, the fear of which was still upon him, could we keep from giving him a heart-warming welcome, assuring him of his immunity from such conditions in our own happy land? The words would fairly overflow of themselves! Loving compassion for the stranger and a desire to share our blessings with him would sweep away formality, timidity, indifference, or distrust, and as brother to brother we should speak to him with unselfconscious eloquence.

Perhaps, at our Wednesday evening meetings, there are even more imperative needs to be met. If we think of it in this way, surely the baseless reluctance to give out a message of good cheer will be forever dispelled. Testifying to the benefits received through Christian Science should never be a difficult task; rather should it be a joy, a spontaneous act of devotion, a most natural expression of gratitude to God, and a glad fulfillment of the Golden Rule. A condition of thought conducive to the giving of testimony is one of grateful willingness, amounting to eager desire to be the bearer of good tidings. Once this desire is established, the opportunity and the words will follow.

It may not always be enough, however, to assume in a general way that subject-matter for testimony will occur to thought at the last moment. Error is prolific in excuses and we should forestall its attempts. "I could not think of anything to say" would not be the excuse offered for his silence, if one had given time before the meeting to a quiet, grateful remembrance of his blessings, and intrusted to divine Mind the expression of gratitude for the healing power of Christian Science.

In a letter emphasizing obedience and preparedness (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 158), our Leader declares, "All God's servants are minute men and women." Does this mean last minute men and women? Peter admonishes, "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." For a material feast one would take time to prepare his contribution; then how much more for so sacred a purpose as testifying to the healing power of Truth! It has been found helpful to think quietly about one's offering, always with the assurance that God will supply the acceptable mode of expression, as occasion may require, when the time comes to speak. In making this preparation, one should bear in mind what our Leader says in Article VIII, Section 24, of the Manual. We should emphasize the joy of waking from an evil night dream rather than give too much prominence to the gladly forgotten details of the dream itself.

Think of the comfort a long-withheld testimony will bring to some hungry heart waiting for it! Could one have a greater incentive? "A word spoken in due season, how good is it!"

Within a hundred years the mass accretions that have beclouded the fundamental truths of religion will be cut away so that the real Christ will be able to be seen face to face. Dr. Karl Reiland

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit