My first testimony was printed when I was still in college. I would like now to add my gratitude for other healings that have occurred since then. Among these are healings of earache, flu, severe nail-biting; also instances of protection while traveling and of finding misplaced articles. The following are a few healings that are especially precious to me.

After I had been working full time for a while following college, a rash developed on my face. It was painful and disfiguring. Several months after this condition became apparent, I attended my annual Christian Science Students Association meeting and returned inspired, determined to see the healing through.

Soon after, I spent an entire day studying the Bible, and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mrs. Eddy, as well as reading current issues of the Christian Science periodicals. As I studied, I worked with the spiritual fact that man's true being—the real "me"—had never been touched by what seemed to be a physical problem. I became so clearly convinced that my real identity was, is, and always will be free and perfect, that my initially hesitant affirmations gradually became imbued with conviction and understanding.

When I was preparing for sleep that evening, I felt what Mrs. Eddy describes as "chemicalization" taking place [see Science and Health 168:30–2]. I could literally feel the problem dissipating. In a few minutes I was asleep—confident in the knowledge that Truth was at work. When I woke the next morning, the rash was gone. And the slight evidence that remained cleared in a day or so. I was so grateful for this physical healing. But the spiritual uplifting had been my real prize.

One day our son, who was six years old, asked if he could go on a supervised fishing trip with a group from the local YMCA. I agreed to it, and afterward our son eagerly looked forward to the trip. However, I had a longstanding fear of fishing hooks, so I worked to know that God is the only real parent, and that no fear can intrude where God's love and law are. I mentally turned over the care of our son to God, where it really always had been.

In the middle of the day of the trip, I felt the need to affirm once again my confidence that with God all is well. Later, after happily spilling out a report of the day's activities, our son apologized for the hole in his jeans. He said that a fishing book had become caught in the leg of his pants, but that he hadn't been touched by it.

More recently, while my husband was away on a business trip, our son wanted to ride his bike, which was suspended on hooks in the ceiling of our garage. The full weight of the bike was on my arms, and in trying to lift it down, I apparently fractured a rib. For several days I was in discomfort while carrying on with my usual duties. Eventually, it was apparent that the rib was broken. I now called a Christian Science practitioner for help. This was on a Thursday. By Saturday I seemed no better; in fact, I felt worse.

I again called the practitioner. During our conversation he quietly and lovingly said something that spiritually woke me up. He said, "You are trying to change matter." Later, as I pondered this simple statement, I realized that instead of recognizing the perfection that is and always has been right where discord seems to be, I had been hoping to replace painful matter with painless matter. I immediately felt released from concern over the outcome of the situation, even though the pain was just as intense as before.

The next morning I was free from the pain, and smiling with ease for the first time in a week. Only a slight soreness remained, and that disappeared within a day. There were no aftereffects. It is difficult to explain the deep gratitude one feels for such healing.

I must add how important the Christian Science Sunday School has been to me, not only as a pupil but now as a parent. When my husband's ranger job took us to a national park in a fairly isolated area, I drove a hundred and fifty miles, round trip, each week to attend a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, so that my son could begin Sunday School at age three. Not only was the experience of great importance to my son, but I was helped immensely by the welcome we received each week at a time when I felt I particularly needed it.

The love and selflessness of the practitioners who have on occasion helped me have been so appreciated. I am also grateful for Christian Science class instruction early in my life, for membership in a branch church, and especially for the periodicals, whose messages invariably bring healing.

DONNA VIRGIL HOLDEN
Vincennes, Indiana