Christian Science has given to...

Dorothy K. Hoffman

Christian Science has given to me "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isa. 61: 3). I became interested in Christian Science through a beautiful physical healing which occurred a number of years prior to my turning finally to Christian Science.

I was lying in a hospital awaiting twenty-four hours hence an operation for a detached retina of the eye. The doctors had said that should the operation be successful and I again have vision, there would always be a blind spot where the stitches would have been taken.

That morning my husband met a business acquaintance who is a Christian Scientist. He asked why we did not turn to God and Christian Science. While my husband was not a Christian Scientist, he acquiesced, and the help of a practitioner was asked. That afternoon when the doctor removed the bandage to examine the eye, it was found that a miracle had occurred; the retina had become attached, and there was full and perfect vision. I believe that this case was written up in a medical journal, but as Mrs. Eddy states (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 104), "According to Christian Science, perfection is normal, —not miraculous."

Coming from a family of which several members are medical and surgical doctors, I looked to materia medica for healing and was opposed to what I thought Christian Science to be; but a personal loss and an emotional upheaval changed my life, and thus again "man's extremity [became] God's opportunity."

It is not only for the larger demonstrations that I am grateful, but for the remarkable protection and ever-loving care of God; and above all am I grateful for what I have learned of the Christian Science way of life, which is a beautiful and wonderful way. By my daily living Christian Science, problems which formerly would have been most discouraging, are being seen for what they are and are fading into their natural nothingness.

It was when I was living many miles from home that I first attended a Church of Christ, Scientist. I had been accustomed to a large and loving family and many friends, and therefore the place where I was now located did not at first appeal to me. However, in the Christian Science church in that city I saw peace and joy in the countenances of those attending the services, and I began to feel my own at-one-ment with God.

For a considerable time I had taken strong sleeping pills and still had trouble falling asleep. In a copy of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, which I had borrowed, I read the chapter on Prayer. That very night I immediately fell into a natural sleep. Each night thereafter I read another chapter, after which I slept normally, and ever since that time I have not been troubled with insomnia.

During those first months I had other healings, which came about through God's goodness. I read random passages from the Bible and also read Science and Health. "Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered" (Ps. 40:5). At that time I was also healed of fear of airplane travel, of a broken blood vessel, and of an infected blister on my foot; this latter healing was an instantaneous one.

Shortly thereafter many other beautiful healings took place, some through my reading, but others with the loving help of a practitioner. I had been a chain-smoker for almost twenty-five years, although I had on innumerable occasions tried to give up cigarettes, but to no avail. Through an understanding of God as taught in Christian Science and by the consecrated work of a practitioner, I was healed. At this same time I was cured of the fear of being left alone, of grief over the loss of a loved one, of severe toothache from an exposed nerve, of the fear of pain and of pain itself while I was in a dentist's chair, and also of intestinal grippe; and virus X was healed in several hours.

While still a very young student, I had to learn to "emerge gently from matter into Spirit" (Science and Health, p. 485), for as Mrs. Eddy has also written (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 15): "The new birth is not the work of a moment. It begins with moments, and goes on with years."

With deep and heartfelt gratitude for Christ Jesus, the Way-shower, for our beloved Leader, Mrs. Eddy, and for the help and patience of a beloved practitioner, I wish to give thanks to God.

I am also appreciative of the warm welcome always extended by the Churches of Christ, Scientist, that I have attended. I am truly grateful for the whole Christian Science movement, and I hope and pray that I shall always be worthy of the name of Christian Scientist. — (Mrs.) Dorothy K. Hoffman, New Rochelle, New York.

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Testimony of Healing

Christian Science has been my...

November 10, 1951

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