Our youngest son was born with a condition diagnosed by a prominent pediatrician as hypo-gammaglobulinemia, a very serious blood condition. From the time he was born we were just barely able to keep him alive through medical treatment. Finally, when the boy was five, doctors advised us to move from our home in Maine to Arizona where the dry weather, it was hoped, would help lessen this child's constant sicknesses. However, the move did not bring improvement. In fact, the treatment our son received weekly from a physician produced adverse mental effects.

Thoroughly disillusioned, my husband and I finally decided to completely stop the program that the doctors had instituted for our child. This was about the time that I earnestly started to study and apply the teachings of Christian Science in my daily life.

One Wednesday afternoon, shortly after we had made the decision to cease using the recommended drugs, our son became quite ill with a severe earache. We knew that drugs were not the answer because of the multitude of bad side effects that our child had experienced when we were using the prescribed medication. I gathered up the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy and sat by the youngster's bedside to pray and read to him. In a short while he fell asleep. As I was preparing dinner for the family, I continued my prayer, seeing this child as God had created him— whole, pure, and free.

When the boy woke, he was free of pain. But by the time I was ready to go to the testimony meeting at our local branch church, he was not yet completely free of the ear infection. My husband, who was giving our son loving care, assured me he could manage for a while without me. But I was torn between a desire to stay at home and my own deep need for the healing inspiration to be found at our testimony meetings.

Rather reluctantly I went on to church. The very first testimony was by a mother. Away from home, she had learned through a phone call that her youngster had fallen out of a tree and was unconscious. Although it was not possible for her to reach home right away, she immediately prayed and quickly gained release from anxiety. She acknowledged that God is omnipresent and ministering to our every need, that His love was right there tenderly nurturing His child. When the testifier was able to return home, she found the youngster healed and playing as usual.

That testimony was just what I needed to hear! Its truths applied to my own situation and gave me a conviction that our son was well. When I returned home that evening, this proved to be the case. The ear had drained, the boy was normal in every way, and he never again suffered from the disease that had bothered him since birth. This healing, which took place in 1964, has meant so much to us as parents, for it released us from the constant fear that our child would not live long enough to attend first grade.

Since that time our family has had many other healings. I am profoundly grateful to God for our dear Leader, Mrs. Eddy, who wrote the By-Laws that constitute the Manual of The Mother Church. I especially appreciate this one (Art. VIII, Sect. 5): "The prayers in Christian Science churches shall be offered for the congregations collectively and exclusively."

PATRICIA G. DUSENBURY
Chicago, Illinois