I am happy to have an understanding...

Ruth Crabtree Ellett

I am happy to have an understanding of Christian Science with which to work out my salvation. The privilege of attending a Christian Science Sunday School was mine for a few years. The truths learned there have been and will continue to be a great blessing to me. Now my own children have this privilege, and it is proving a blessing to them.

When in college I was on the girls' apparatus team in gymnasium. I could do all the gymnastic feats well except that of climbing a rope. On the day before a gymnastic meet was to be held the only girl on our team who had entered the rope-climbing event was indisposed. The coach said I would have to represent our team, as I was the only other one who could even take a mounting position. There was no time to practice, and failure seemed imminent. I explained the situation to the practitioner with whom I lived, and we both held to the truth. We knew that with God all things are possible and that Mind, God, governs every situation.

When the time for the ropeclimbing event arrived I hoped to be given a place where I would be least conspicuous, but the position to which I was assigned was nearest the audience. Nevertheless, I felt calm and assured. I accomplished the feat in good order, not only receiving a perfect score in it, but scoring the highest number of points in the whole meet as well.

Each day brings reason for new gratitude. I have experienced the protective power of Christian Science many times. Once when I was about to drown in a swift undercurrent of water, I cried aloud, "God is my Life." In a few moments I found myself in water that was shallow enough for me to wade to shore. At another time a car in which I was riding turned completely around and came to a standstill only inches from a stone wall.

Exploding kerosene once burned my hands and face. My eyebrows were burned off, and my hair was singed. Help was given by an earnest student of Christian Science; and as I repeated the passage from Isaiah (43:2), "When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee," and understood its meaning, the pain was overcome. The next day at school my face was so nearly free from any mark that only one person mentioned it to me, and soon I was entirely free from any evidence of the burn.

Christian Science is of immeasurable help in rearing my two daughters. When the younger one was about a year old she picked up some scissors and cut the finger of her three-year-old sister. The cut almost encircled the finger and apparently reached the bone. I covered the finger and tried to reach a practitioner by telephone, but could not. I then repeated "the scientific statement of being," found on page 468 of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, and also the Lord's Prayer. In a short time the child was quiet, and in less than an hour she was outside playing. The incident was soon forgotten, and today we cannot tell which finger was cut.

Through my repetition of "the scientific statement of being" and the Lord's Prayer the younger child, when just a toddler, was instantaneously healed of pain after she had upset a dish of boiling pudding on her hand. About two hours after the experience we went riding with friends, and there was no trace of the burn.

When it became necessary for me to work outside my home a place opened up for me in the line of work for which I was trained. With this came the loosening of some of the bonds of a false sense of motherhood. God is both Father and Mother, I learned, and man expresses God's fatherhood and motherhood. My two daughters and I are finding a great sense of happiness and contentment in our home, and we are truly grateful to God.

I have but touched the fringe of naming the many blessings I have received through the study of Christian Science. One of the greatest of these is the beautiful experience of class instruction. I cannot express my gratitude more simply and humbly than to say, "Thank You, God." — (Mrs.) Ruth Crabtree Ellett, Decatur, Illinois.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

Before I became interested in...

June 6, 1953

Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit