Recently a friend asked me how long I had been a Christian Scientist,...

Jane Cunliffe Hammond

Recently a friend asked me how long I had been a Christian Scientist, and I found myself telling her that my birth had been a Christian Science demonstration. This sounded a little vague, so I explained that before I was born, my mother, who was quite ill at the time, had been introduced to Christian Science by a neighbor, who had brought some soup, and a copy of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, to her bedside. My mother had been a delicate child and had been a semi-invalid most of her life. After the birth of her first child the doctors stressed the tragic results that could be expected if she were ever to have any more children.

Immediately upon taking up the study of Christian Science, Mother became stronger, freer, and much less fearful. In fact, she was able to work at her profession again. A few years later she was delighted to realize that she would soon have another baby. Through the help of a Christian Science practitioner and the services of a Christian Science nurse, I was born at home, in a very short time, without any complications—an eleven-pound, healthy baby.

I knew the joy and freedom of attending a Christian Science Sunday School and shall always be grateful for the many helpful teachers who taught me how to apply Christian Science to human problems. As a child I enjoyed a perfect attendance record at school. I was healed overnight of measles, and I was also healed of a few other so-called children's diseases.

One outstanding healing was that of a broken arm, when I was in high school. I fell on the icy sidewalk while carrying an armload of books. This occurred on the way home from school just as I was about to board the school bus. A friend helped me board the bus and tried to comfort me, since I was in severe pain. The bus driver insisted that I be taken into a doctor's office, which was on the corner where I got off the bus. I pleaded with my friend to telephone my mother and tell her what had happened. I knew that she would call a Christian Science practitioner for prayerful help, which she did.

The thought that God and His spiritual creation are inseparable and that God's control is perfect and supreme kept coming to me as I waited for the doctor to see me. This, together with the prayer of the practitioner, was effective, for I was free of pain when the doctor came out into the waiting room in about fifteen minutes. He took me into his office and X-rayed the arm. Then he asked me when this had happened. I replied, "About a half-hour ago." He couldn't believe it, because he said that the X ray showed a very bad break of the elbow but that it was already set and mending. He stated that from the X ray he would say the elbow had been broken about a week ago. My friend, who was not a Christian Scientist, was so impressed with this healing that she attended my Sunday School quite often after that.

At present I am grateful for activity in a branch church, especially for the privilege of teaching Sunday School. I am helping others as I was helped as a child. Class instruction was an important step that made me rededicate my life to reaching out to my fellowman and sharing the wonderful freedom I enjoy as a Christian Scientist.

(Mrs.) Jane Cunliffe Hammond
Claremont, California

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Words of Current Interest

October 21, 1972

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