Encircled by Love

If there is any possibility of a testimony being perfect, it seems to me that Kristen Hills' one beginning page 103 of our December book Christian Science: Continuing Evidence of Christ-Healing could claim that accolade.

 

Her son Sam was a teenager studying at Principia College. (This is presumption from his testimony which is added to his mother's which gives his address as Elsah, Illinois.)  

 

Sam was on a rock-climbing expedition hours away from the camp when he was bitten by a rattle-snake.  His companions were a group of 13 to 15 year-olds, and there were counsellors in the party.

 

I love this: "He told me that the campers and counsellors present at the time of the incident had circled around him, and everyone was calm.  He had felt their confident prayers."

 

Kristen had early on been encouraged by a hymn in the Christian Science Hymnal (#53):

Everlasting arms of Love

Are beneath, around, above;

God it is who bears us on,

His the arm we lean upon.

 

Kristen adds, "I was struck by the fact that, as my son mentions below, the poison never seemed to circulate through his system.  It was as though that encircling of God's protection and loving care acted as a tourniquet."

 

I hope readers of this blog can get to read this outstanding testimony for themselves.  All the testimonies are outstanding really.

Joyce Voysey

Testimony from Australia

 As I progress through our lovely book "Christian Science: continuing evidence of Christ-healing", I've noticed testimonies from all over the world, so I wondered if I would find any from Australia.

I did! See pages 109 - 112.

In his account, immediately following a fall from a collapsed ladder, the testifier prayed with a sentence from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (p. 476): 

    Man in God's image is unfallen and eternal. 

Later, from his hospital bed, he continued to pray. 

He also had daily contact with a Christian Science practitioner. Within six days of good progress he was "discharged to a rehabilitation centre" from where he was released much earlier than predicted. Later, a brace that had been fitted was removed when "the surgeon showed photographic evidence that the spine had healed properly".

I love this testimony and I loved reading and pondering the passages from Scripture, the Christian Science hymnal, and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy that John Bruce prayed with.

Love is universal. God is right here, right now, no matter where we are.

How comforting and thrilling it is to know this.

Thank you to the testifiers for taking the time to share these accounts.

Julie Swannell

Gifts aglow

The wise men brought treasure  - gold, frankincense and myrrh - to the child Jesus in Bethlehem's manger. 

Christian Science: continuing evidence of Christ-healing, from the Christian Science Publishing Society, is a treasure-trove of gifts - gratitude for healings. 

This evening, after finalising my Christmas gift-wrapping, I picked it up and opened at random to "Healed of alcoholism" (pp. 182-184).

This lovely healing - which resulted in the reunification of a fractured family - just sings with pure joy. It is especially touching to learn that, in response to the Christian Science practitioner's request that the writer make a list of things he was grateful for, he "thought of fifty things"! Some time afterward, there was "a terrific feeling of calm and peace... An indescribable feeling of being aglow...".

My favourite part is where the writer's wife says: "...I no longer love Judge the way I once had. But guess what? I fell in love with my husband all over again. Things changed for the better in our household, and we began to attend the local Christian Science church as a family."

A lovely article in the December 2004 issue of The Christian Science Journal ("Gifts from the wise men") shares some thoughts about the qualities expressed by the wise men, in particular: intelligence ("They knew how to figure out that the Messiah had come"); courage ("They had to travel a long distance to a strange country to find Jesus"; patience ("The wise men had patience and persistence to keep looking for Jesus"); and generosity ("They brought gifts to give Jesus and his parents"). We too can freely share these healing gifts.

Julie Swannell

Needed reminders

The Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, ask many questions of the reader. One that comes to mind this morning is: “Are we benefited by praying?” It’s early in the chapter Prayer – page 2, line 4.

 

As is usual in Science and Health we are given an answer – “Yes, the desire which goes forth hungering after righteousness is blessed of our Father, and it does not return unto us void" (ibid).

 

So, I am asking myself: Will I be benefited by reading the new book from the Christian Science Publishing Society, Christian Science: Continuing evidence of Christ-healing? I think the textbook’s answer applies in this case as well. I am forever “hungering after righteousness” as a student of Christian Science and expect its blessings.

 

I had been thinking about reading testimonies and sharing testimonies at church testimony meetings. It is not enough just to read or listen, and enjoy. I can benefit myself and the whole of mankind by actually praying for more enlightenment through learning from another’s experience in demonstrating Christian Science.

 

For instance, in testimonies of Christian Science healing we very often find quotes from the Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s writings: Science and Health, Prose Works other than Science and Health, and Poems.

 

I find I have gained much from having those quotes to hand.

 

I recall a time when I was impressed by this passage from Science and Health page 463: “...truth removes whatever is offensive”. It had healed someone. I think it was shared at a Wednesday meeting. When a daughter cried with the pain of a loose tooth that wouldn’t budge, that truth came to be uttered with immediate effect. The tooth just fell into to her hand. The complete sentence from Science and Health (it is important to be exact in quoting from our textbooks) is: “A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive” (p. 463:12-13).

 

So, I decided to read one healing a day from our book, Continuing evidence of Christ-healing. Read it, ponder it, take notes about it and try to find something which will apply to something in my life or from the news.

 

A testimony from Annette Söllinger (pp.19-22), Eye Infection Gone, gave me a nudge. Annette said that in her prayers she had been trying to “distinguish between the true and the false, between the right and wrong, effective and ineffective prayer – all with mortal limited thinking. An impossible task!” (p. 20). I was very impressed, but didn’t quite “get it.” However, in reading a current issue of the Christian Science Sentinel I found a sentence that settled it all for me -- “The turning point was when I yielded up any personal sense of responsibility for healing.” (See Healing of Covid by Hernando Pico Niño, December 1&8, 2025, CS Sentinel, p. 13-14.)

 

As Hernando said,

“Christ Jesus, the greatest healer in the world has known, said, ‘I can of mine own self do nothing’ (John 5:30), and acknowledged that his heavenly Father ‘doeth the works’ (John 14:10).”

 

I can see that I can never be reminded enough of those truths.

Joyce Voysey

A new book - 80+ accounts of verified healing

Coinciding with 150 years of continuous publication of Mary Baker Eddy's Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures is the release of a precious new book from The Christian Science Publishing Society - Christian Science: continuing evidence of Christ-healing.

This is not a showy volume. Rather, it is a modest but distinctive volume which provides the reader with substantial and convincing evidence that Christ-healing is happening in our time, across continents and in all sorts of circumstances.

The book is beautifully presented, yet is without fanfare in design. Its cover invites further deep investigation, while pointing to the ongoing nature of Christ-healing. The typeface is crisp, clear and open. It's easy to read. 

The Foreword, by the Christian Science Board of Directors, is especially engaging. It begins: 

    The relationship between science and Christianity has always been a delicate dance. In fact, a large portion of society would likely argue that these two have no business dancing with each other at all.

I am reading slowly and looking for the relationship between science and Christianity in each of the verified accounts of healing. 

This book has arrived just in time for Christmas. What a beautiful gift to our world.

Julie Swannell

PS Our Reading Room in Redcliffe is offering the book at a special early-bird price just this month. Half of our initial order has already been sold.