In journals of physical science...

Ernest H. Lyons, Jr.

In journals of physical science it is customary to support the statements made by presenting data observed in the laboratory and field. Just so, in The Christian Science Journal and in the Sentinel, testimonies of healing prove that the explanations of Christian Science found in the articles and editorials are not mere theory but actual truth which becomes evident in human experience. Such evidence is both convincing to the beginner and enlightening and heartening to the seasoned worker, helping them to demonstrate Truth ever more widely.

My first healing through my own efforts occurred when I was a small child. I awoke with a terrifying attack of croup, unable to draw breath or to call for help. But I had been taught in the Christian Science Sunday School that God is everywhere, and so I saw that evil could therefore have no presence. Immediately my breath came freely; I was healed. Diseases common to childhood and minor injuries were also promptly healed through Science.

In the chemical laboratory I have been healed and protected repeatedly. Great distress caused by exposure to chlorine and phosgene, once used as war gases, vanished in a few hours through my reading Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. The effects of serious burns, including those from boiling acids and caustics, have been healed; often the pain was relieved instantaneously. When an explosion threw acid over my face, much skin was destroyed, yet normal appearance was restored overnight.

An outstanding experience came in working with potassium cyanide, which is regarded as a potent poison. Before starting the experiment, I realized that since God is the Life of man, matter cannot contain life, lose it, or expel it; Life, as Spirit, is inescapable. In the course of the work I inadvertently grasped the hot end of an iron rod with which I had been stirring the cyanide, as it melted over a powerful flame. Though the burn seemed very deep and crystals of the poison dislodged from the rod were seen in the wound, I was not alarmed, for I was conscious of the presence of Life, God, overruling the suggestions of accident, injury, and death. After washing my hand and wrapping it in a towel, I joyously completed my work. Within three days scarcely a scar remained. An expert on cyanide poisoning later informed me that such an experience would ordinerily prove fatal in a few minutes.

Numerous other healings have afforded clear proof that Christian Science is true and effective. When I was too weak to move from my bed because of an attack of influenza, my strength and health were fully restored twenty minutes after I asked for help from a practitioner. Best of all, Mrs. Eddy's writings have made the method of healing so clear to me that on occasion I have been able to help my friends.

The activity of Christian Science is not confined to physical healing; I have been guided, inspired, and blessed many times. In a college examination the answer to a difficult question on an unfamiliar phase of chemical engineering came promptly and clearly, when I appealed to God for help.

Not long ago, I was thrown with men who spent many hours drinking, and who repeatedly urged me to take liquor. Although I refused, I was unhappy about being placed in these circumstances. Turning to Christian Science for help, I recognized that my companions' hospitality was sincere, though misguided; and I rejected the suggestion that man is deluded by the spurious attractions of alcohol. Shortly the liquor parties ceased, and one of my friends inquired about Christian Science. Thus it was proved that we need never remain unhappy.

"Our Master taught no mere theory, doctrine, or belief. It was the divine Principle of all real being which he taught and practised. His proof of Christianity was no form or system of religion and worship, but Christian Science, working out the harmony of Life and Love" (Science and Health, p. 26).

Membership in The Mother Church and in a branch church, and in Christian Science Organizations at colleges has been most helpful. Fresh, practical inspiration comes through our Lesson-Sermons and periodicals. The good derived from the priceless privilege of class instruction did not cease at the close of the class term, but expands vigorously and continuously from the seed planted. Christian Science is the most rewarding and absorbing interest in my experience, and my gratitude for it is beyond measure.—Ernest H. Lyons Evanston, Illinois.

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Testimony of Healing

My first healings in Christian Science,...

October 26, 1946

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