For a good many years I was very much overweight. A physician who examined me for a license predicted that unless the weight was reduced by at least sixty pounds serious trouble would develop. Halfhearted attempts to cut down on food intake had no effect, and I drifted on, giving the condition occasional thought but not making any appreciable effort to solve the problem. At last I began to feel ashamed of my body because it seemed gross, awkward, and unsightly. The sense of shame resulted in the conviction that vigorous efforts should be made to correct the situation in Christian Science.

After several weeks of study and prayer it came to me quite clearly that I was not suffering from fat matter but from a multiplied sense of physicality. It was obvious that an understanding of the import of this thought was needed. A few days of further study and prayer revealed the error to be overcome. I suddenly realized that for many years I had been accepting without question the subtle suggestion that I was a fat mortal. I had in lighter moments referred to myself as "Fatty" or "Fatso," and I had unquestioningly accepted limitations supposedly reserved for overweight people. The realization was clear that I must rid consciousness of the false concept of man and replace it with the truth of man's spiritual nature through understanding and demonstrating the truth of being, not occasionally but consistently and constantly.

Study of the first chapter of Genesis in the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's answer to the question "What is man?" on page 475 of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, established the conviction that man never was a mortal, that what appears to be a material body is not man but a false concept of man, an illusion, a lie. One passage included in the statements relative to man reads: "Man is spiritual and perfect; and because he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so understood in Christian Science. Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique."

I perceived that right where there seemed to be an overweight, unwieldy physical body, right there was my real spiritual identity as a son of God. Man made in the image and likeness of God manifests only the harmony of true spiritual substance. I saw that man has never been imprisoned in a material body but is free, forever spiritual and perfect, never manacled by a sense of materiality.

This realization brought a sense of joyous release such as I had seldom experienced. The consciousness of the truth of spiritual being was my constant companion for many weeks. During this time there was no suggestion of shame for the body, and no thought was given to its size or weight. Finally a close friend remarked that he was quite concerned because I was going around in such ill-fitting clothing, something not at all normal for me. Inspection proved that the clothing, the same as I had formerly worn, certainly was much too large. A subsequent examination showed that the loss of weight was exactly what was required to return my weight to what was considered normal. At the same time an abnormal appetite vanished, and the problems of shortness of breath, lack of endurance, and constant indigestion disappeared. A tendency to count calories was permanently dismissed. I was able to eat any and all foods without bad effect. The excess weight has never returned.

In Science and Health a statement by Mrs. Eddy, the beloved Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, explains to my sense the mental nature of the problem of obesity in this case (p. 219): "Not muscles, nerves, nor bones, but mortal mind makes the whole body 'sick, and the whole heart faint;' whereas divine Mind heals.

"When this is understood, we shall never affirm concerning the body what we do not wish to have manifested. We shall not call the body weak, if we would have it strong; for the belief in feebleness must obtain in the human mind before it can be made manifest on the body, and the destruction of the belief will be the removal of its effects."

Space will not permit accounts of other healings I have had through the application of Christian Science, but among them are healings of drinking, smoking, heart attack, acute infection, and a severe problem of the lungs, which was not diagnosed but was healed through my own prayer in Christian Science.

I am most grateful for our beloved Master, Christ Jesus, for Mrs. Eddy, for class instruction from a dedicated teacher, and for opportunities to serve in church work.

George T. Vincent
Elkart, Indiana