"Bring ye all the tithes into the...

Bruce P. Piersall

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not beroom enough to receive it" (Mal. 3:10). I have found that this passage from the Bible may be construed as either a challenge or a promise. As we accept the challenge and do our part by rising to what we know of God's law of perfect harmony, we experience those blessings which prove the statement to be indeed a fruitful promise.

Some experiences of mine have proved this to be true. For some time prior to my annual association meeting, pain and stiffness in the back had made me fearful that a serious condition might be involved. This had been a problem of long duration and had not been completely solved, although the help of a Christian Science practitioner had been beneficial.

During a period of wholehearted and prayerful study in connection with the need for more spiritualization of thought, I found the clue to the healing. It was in Mary Baker Eddy's words in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 476, 477): "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick."

Those words, seen as a clear index to Jesus' successful healing and teaching mission, were considered seriously over and over again. The implication was plain. Since Jesus, our example, healed by seeing man as perfect, then it was high time that I was doing likewise. I must stop accepting the aggressive suggestions that man is a sick, weak, pain-ridden, or dying mortal. Jesus beheld the perfect man, not just imagined one; he certainly could not have beheld that which was not true.

I saw that discord now, as in Jesus' time, is no part of the perfect man of God's creating. Discord is the unhappy effect of allowing an illusory sense of man to appear through the distorted beliefs of physical sense testimony.

While I was seeing the perfect man clearly and following the counsel contained in the article, "What Our Leader Says," on page 210 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" by Mrs. Eddy, all sense of pain and stiffness vanished. In its place there were perfect freedom of action and a great sense of well-being. The healing had been accomplished.

During the return flight from the association meeting, there were additional evidences of the sustaining and protecting power of God's spiritual law. An attack of hay fever was overcome completely. Moreover, although severe electrical storms were encountered, they were without incident.

It would indeed be strange not to feel and to express a great sense of gratitude for all that God is doing for mankind. I am grateful for the revelation of Christian Science, which Mrs. Eddy has given us and which makes God's laws known and practicable today.—(Comdr.) Bruce P. Piersall, U.S.A., Arlington, Virginia.

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Testimony of Healing

With profound gratitude I...

September 7, 1957

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