When I first read Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy eight years...

Charlotte Manley

When I first read Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy eight years ago, a whole new world opened to me. I have had many wonderful experiences and healings through application of the truths I have learned in my study of Christian Science. Each healing has been a blessing because it has given me a better understanding of God, Truth, and strengthened my trust in Him.

One healing that stands out to me was that of back trouble. I had been conscious for some time of a pain in my back whenever I remained in one position for a long while. It would get worse from time to time and then disappear. I did prayerful work in Christian Science about this condition, but it would still recur. One morning I awoke to find that when I put any pressure at all on my back by sitting or standing, there was extreme pain. I became very much frightened and remained practically motionless in bed for three days. Treatment was requested from and given by a practitioner. I was also grateful for the care and support given by the Christian Scientists with whom I was living. I knew that I would have to clear my thought of the recurring fear that I could not walk, and I spent much time studying the Bible and Science and Health. The practitioner kept assuring me, and I myself knew that this condition could not possibly be a part of man, who is made in Gods image.

The turning point came when I read a statement in an article in a Sentinel which awakened me to the fact that the fear I was expressing was actually evidence of a lack of faith in God and in all the truths I had been learning. I knew that I must take my stand and act according to what I knew to be true. With great joy I sat up and then took my first steps in three days, experiencing no pain whatsoever. That was not the end of the pain altogether; but steady progress was made, and I returned to work the following week.

I was very grateful for this healing and was dismayed when a month or so later the same symptoms of slight pain in my back began to reappear. I prayed to know that healings in Christian Science are complete, but the fear of being incapacitated again was great.

This condition remained for several months and grew worse whenever I took long walks or did any form of exercise. Since I am a great lover of walking and hiking, I was dismayed at the prospect of my activities becoming limited. When summer came and a friend invited me to go swimming, I accepted the invitation; but again I had to struggle with fear. When I awakened that morning, my back was especially painful, the weather was rather cool, and I found myself making excuses to myself for staying home.

I am grateful that I was alert enough to recognize these thoughts as suggestions of error and that I turned to Truth for the guidance and help I needed to rid myself once and for all of this fear. Again

I was guided to a current Sentinel article. It brought out the fact that we should look for opportunities to show to what extent we have progressed mentally. Often we are required to take some step that we have feared to take in the past because we were not prepared to trust Truth to sustain us.

This was all I needed. I knew that I had progressed, that I had learned to trust God in the past and could trust Him again to sustain me. Although the back was still painful, I went swimming with no fear. I had no difficulty in swimming, the pain disappeared, and there has been no recurrence of the condition.

For this healing and for many other proofs of God's love, guidance, and constant care, I am very grateful.

(Miss) Charlotte Manley, Columbus, Ohio

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