It has been proved to me that...

Lucia Helt

It has been proved to me that Christian Science is practical and is always available to meet daily needs. I am grateful that I had the privilege of attending the Christian Science Sunday School from the time I was a child of eight until I reached the age of twenty.

There came a time when I had to use the understanding of what I had learned in the Christian Science Sunday School. Large warts appeared on one of my hands. The condition caused much embarrassment. I prayed as we are taught to do in Christian Science and asked to have revealed to me the error in my thinking that could produce such an ugly manifestation.

Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health (p. 248), "We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives." In searching my thought, I found stubbornness, selfwill, resentment, and even hatred. I prayed to have these unlovely traits destroyed and to accept in their place such qualities as love, humility, patience, and forgiveness. Soon the warts began to diminish, and finally they disappeared completely.

A few years ago I left the United States for a two-year tour of duty in islands in the Pacific Ocean. It was my first ocean voyage. The third day out we encountered a severe storm. While we were gaining speed in a new direction, the ship began pitching, and I knew that I must work as we are taught to do in Christian Science.

Two verses from the Bible helped me to overcome my fears. One was (Job 28:7), "There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen." The other, referring to God, was from Psalms. It reads in part (77:19), "Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters."

The ship continued to roll and pitch. I continued to pray, trying to silence my fear. I went back to the stateroom, and I remembered that Jesus had slept in a ship during a storm and that when the disciples came to him and awoke him he said (Matt. 8:26), "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" And the account continues, "Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm."

I realized that my understanding of Christian Science was being put to a test. For two days and two nights the storm continued. As the wind grew more boisterous, I prayed aloud in order to keep my thought on God instead of on the storm.

I remember repeating the Lord's Prayer over and over; and also "the scientific statement of being," the first line of which reads (Science and Health, p. 468), "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter." I emphasized that there is no life in matter and added that God is Life. Then I tried to be thankful that we were still safe in the ship. After two days and two nights, we pulled safely out of the storm. I felt a great sense of calm and peace. Much fear had been overcome, and I had no fear of the return trip.

Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health (p. 559): "The 'still, small voice' of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globe's remotest bound. The inaudible voice of Truth is, to the human mind, 'as when a lion roareth.' It is heard in the desert and in dark places of fear." I am grateful for each time that I have been able to overcome fear, for it is the overcoming that makes us strong.

I am grateful for the privilege of serving in several activities of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist. Through gaining the true concept of service, I have experienced great growth and much progress.—(Miss) Lucia Helt, Wichita, Kansas.

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