My father was introduced to Christian Science when he was a...

Valerie Jennifer Farrell

My father was introduced to Christian Science when he was a young man. A colleague at work invited him to a Christian Science lecture. I write this testimony in gratitude for having been brought up in Christian Science, for being a member of The Mother Church, and for having had the opportunity to take Christian Science class instruction.

One morning I woke to find that something was severely amiss in my back. I managed to get up but could only move around very slowly and carefully. I spoke to a Christian Science practitioner that day and asked for help through prayer. The next morning I was able to get to the school where I taught, although moving about was still no easy task.

By the end of the day the situation appeared unchanged. I was thankful that I was able to finish the day's work and drive the car home, with the prayerful help of the practitioner. That evening I reread that week's Bible Lesson outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly. The subject was "God the Only Cause and Creator." My thoughts at first started to drift, and I was tempted to wonder about a cause for the physical condition. When I mentioned this to the practitioner, she replied that one cause of discord is the belief that man is corporeal. This released me, and from that moment it became easier and easier to move about. By the end of the week I was fully healed. There was no absence from work—and it was a busy week.

Christian Science also healed me of grief when my parents passed away within a few months of each other. I was particularly distressed when my mother passed on. That night I spoke to a practitioner who simply helped me see that death had never touched my mother's—or anyone's—true spiritual selfhood. Immediately there was relief. The sorrow I had been feeling was gone, and I felt able to go forward.

On many occasions I have been particularly grateful for practitioners. When I was working away from home during the day, it was not always possible to be as quiet and to pray as I would wish. Very often a practitioner's calm words of truth over the telephone restored a sense of God's presence and brought healing. I am grateful to be understanding and proving in some degree that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Ps. 46:1).

Valerie Jennifer Farrell
Greensted Green, Essex, England

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