In gratitude for the testimonies...

Penelope Eyster Harvey

In gratitude for the testimonies of the healing and regenerative effect of Christian Science which appear in the authorized periodicals, I joyously tell of the following experiences.

The seed of spirituality planted in my thought by my forebears found its growth only when Christian Science came into our home through an aunt who had been healed of tuberculosis, one lung having been completely useless. Her healing had come simply through the reading of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy.

Physical healings, such as chronic sick headaches, pneumonia, tonsillitis, and typhoid, were quickly overcome for me through the work of a practitioner. But I did not comprehend the healing power of Christian Science until I became a mother. Then I knew too much of this Science to trust my babe to medical care, but thought I knew too little of it to heal; so while I continued to call for help from a practitioner, I sought greater spiritual illumination for myself.

At one time the babe had jaundice and was a pitiful sight. The practitioner whom I had called had worked for some time, but there was no apparent change. One morning I became desperate. I called the practitioner and said that something must be done, as I could not stand the situation any longer. She gently replied, "Where is your faith?" I hung up the telephone and sat with my head bowed in prayer.

"Faith, faith; what is faith?" I asked. The answer came in the familiar passage from Hebrews (11:1), "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." "Substance and evidence," I repeated, "'substance of things hoped for.' What am I hoping for? The babe's healing, of course. Then I have the healing if I have faith. 'Evidence of things not seen'—evidence of healing I have not seen. But if I have faith, I have the evidence!" Then the light broke, and I felt bathed in a wonderful heavenly radiancy.

How long I sat there I do not know, but I was recalled to the babe by a soft cooing from her crib. When I went to her, every vestige of the unsightly yellow was gone. She had been instantaneously healed by scientific reasoning and by the revelation of the Christ, Truth.

From this experience I glimpsed how the Scriptures had been illumined to the consecrated consciousness of our beloved Leader, Mrs. Eddy. To quote her (Science and Health, p. 319), "The divine Science taught in the original language of the Bible came through inspiration, and needs inspiration to be understood." Thereafter the healing of childhood diseases became spontaneous for me.

The protecting power of Truth was evidenced when I was driving in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. While parking the car I suddenly lost consciousness. With my hands on the wheel and my foot on the accelerator, the car sped downhill through a stand of small fir trees and came to rest with its front wheels wedged on a large low stump at the edge of a precipice overhanging the Yellowstone River. At that point I became conscious, stepped out of the car, and went with a woman into her tent in order to be away from the excited people following the car. A wrecking crew towed the undamaged car back up the hill onto the road. The foreman of the crew came to my tent afterward and in reverent wonder said, "The One up yonder sure was with you." With this I fully agreed, giving Mind the glory.

Demonstration of its teachings has proved to me that Christian Science is the Comforter promised by Christ Jesus and that it was God alone who directed and sustained Mrs. Eddy in giving to mankind this Science and in establishing The Mother Church. To her and for her flows endless gratitude from those healed through Christian Science.—(Mrs.) Penelope Eyster Harvey, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

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