A COMPARATIVELY new student of Christian Science arrived in New York City early one Wednesday evening, after a year's absence. He had come, in part, for a business conference which promised to be interesting and productive, and which might be held at any time, day or evening, on short notice. There were old-time friends in the city, whom he wished to see. And there were theatrical plays that he desired to attend. It interested him to consider afterward, as a contrast with his practice before he knew of Christian Science, that without a thought of doing anything else he went directly from the train to the testimony meeting in a Christian Science church; and that he went through no sense of duty, but gladly, since it was for him the most attractive thing to do.

Great numbers of people have this feeling about the Wednesday evening testimony meetings in Christian Science churches, and it is easy to see the reason why. Is there, after all, anything in all human experience more interesting, more beautiful, or more important than what comes to light in these meetings? In them people, speaking directly from their own experience, tell of the disappearing of many types of so-called limitation through Christian Science. We hear of the appearing of God as the actual liberating power in human affairs, in accordance with the statement of Christ Jesus, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." And the interest and value of it all is heightened by the manifest fact that whatever anyone truly says in the meetings of his experience in Christian Science relates in its spiritual meaning not only to himself but to all who hear him. Witnessing to the healing power of Truth points to something that is true about man made in God's likeness, and to the complete liberation that is available for all mankind.

Take the content of a few typical testimonies in one of these meetings. A man told how he was healed of hatred and, along with it, of a chronic disease, through his increasing understanding of divine Love. A college student told of his release from fear in a college examination, and of the better-than-usual results he was enabled to obtain. A woman told of her complete and permanent healing twenty years before of what had been diagnosed as tuberculosis in an advanced stage. A man told how his little son's matter-of-fact statement of something he had learned in a Christian Science Sunday School—that God is All—so awakened his own thought that through the earnest, persistent study of the Bible and of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, he was healed of a disease of long standing. A woman, speaking with the quiet conviction that characterizes the testimonies in general, told how through reliance on God as the source of all strength and wisdom she had discovered capacities in herself, as God's witness, of which she had not before been aware, and was enabled to do work which was unfamiliar to her, but which it seemed her duty to do, and to do the work better than at first had seemed possible. One told, with manifestly deep gratitude, of securing a position; another, of the solution of a vexatious problem in a great industry—all through the understanding of God and man, as revealed in Christian Science.

The speakers in such a meeting usually come from widely varying backgrounds, and this illustrates the universal appeal of divine Principle, indicating that Love does indeed reach every human condition and every human need. Racially, as well as in other ways, the speakers may serve as a reminder that "God is no respecter of persons." In a meeting in an American city there were testimonies from an American Indian, an East Indian, a Frenchman, and a Norwegian, as well as from several Americans. And if the meeting is in a community where such racial differences are unlikely to appear, those attending it may know, nevertheless, that on the same day, elsewhere in the world, men and women of many races and forms of culture are attending similar meetings, and are joining in expressions of gratitude for the new-old understanding of God, which unites all peoples. What a symphony of praise! What a sign of the nature of God as good!

The help available for anyone at the Wednesday meetings is not limited. Healings are continually occurring in them, as well as in the Sunday services. But the benefits received by those who attend, especially those who have gained some knowledge of Christian Science, tend to be greater in the measure that they contribute to the usefulness of the meetings. The contribution may be, and perhaps often is, simply in the way of right thinking or prayer. That such a contribution is of much practical value is indicated by the fact that Mrs. Eddy made specific provision for it in all the meetings. "The prayers in Christian Science churches," she wrote (Church Manual, Art. VIII, Sect. 5), "shall be offered for the congregations collectively and exclusively." But unnumbered Christian Scientists have found great blessings coming to them, as well as to others, through the giving of testimonies of healing of sickness through help received from Christian Science. Of such testifying, Mrs. Eddy has said (ibid., Art. VIII, Sect. 24) that "it scales the pinnacle of praise and illustrates the demonstration of Christ, 'who healeth all thy diseases.' "

The false suggestion that one who has something helpful to say at a testimony meeting lacks the courage to stand and say it, can always be overcome by insistence that God, divine Love, is the only presence. And those who claim their God-given freedom in this regard, and give testimonies that they feel should be given, commonly experience increased strength, freedom, and joy through having done so.

It is gratitude and love, not studied eloquence, that makes a good testimony, although suitable preparation is helpful. As the poet said:

As one considers the Wednesday meetings understandingly, it is recognized that they are necessarily progressive. They are, in their own way, reports on the appearing of Truth, divine Principle, to the thought and in the experience of individuals in their respective communities, and progress marks every appearing of God's ideas. For this reason, no matter how many such meetings one may have attended, they need never seem dull to him. As he brings to them his own growing understanding, his own increasingly clear views of God and man, and of the meaning of these meetings, he finds them ever more inspiring both to himself and to others.