Science and Health
with Key to The Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
Chapter XVIII - Fruitage

 

622:1
reading the book on Tuesday and finished on Friday of the same week. I was still in the dark. I laid the book down, involuntarily closed my eyes, and silently prayed to God.
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I remained in that attitude a few moments, when I felt like the mariner who had been tossed for days upon a boisterous sea, the clouds bending low, the billows rolling high, all nature wrapped in darkness; in his despair he kneels and commits his soul to God, when he suddenly beholds the North Star breaking through the clouds, enabling him to guide his ship to the shores of safety. Many things were made plain to me. I saw that there is one Fatherhood of God and one brotherhood of man; that though "once I was blind, now I see;" that there was no more pain, nor aches, no fear, nor indigestion. I slept that night like a babe and awoke next morning refreshed. There are now no traces whatever of my former complaint and I feel like a new being. – L. P., New York, N. Y.
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HEALTH AND PEACE GAINED
622:21
About nine years ago I was drawn to Christian Science by a relative whose many afflictions had given place to health and harmony, and whose loving gratitude was reflected in every word and deed. The thought came to me, God indeed healeth all our diseases.
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My first reading of Science and Health was without understanding. I was full of darkness and gloom, and it was laid aside for a time. The good seed had been sown, however, and erelong the reading was resumed, and with such interest that my afflictions disappeared "like mist before the morning sun." Asthma (thought to be hereditary), neuralgia in an aggravated form, and besides these, the tobacco and liquor habit of many years' standing left me. Bless the Lord, "He sent his word" and healed me, – for the reading of Science and Health brought to my consciousness the truth that makes free. – S., Shellman, Ga.
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CONSUMPTION QUICKLY CURED
623:10
I became interested in Christian Science nearly five years ago through the healing of my wife of what the doctors called consumption in its last stages. I had tried everything that I could get in the way of materia medica, and every doctor would tell me nearly the same story about the case. At last they recommended for her only a higher, drier climate, and when she would be at her worst to give her something to quiet her.
623:18
I tried different climates, but she was no better, indeed worse. At last she struggled along until the first of March, 1899. She had taken to her bed again. For two days and nights she suffered, and I called a physician. He came and diagnosed the case, and said that he could do nothing for her but give her some morphine tablets to make her rest. I gave her two of them according to direction, and just before the time to give her the third, she called me to her bedside, and said, "Don't give me any more of that stuff, for it does me more harm than good," so I turned and placed them in the fire, though I did not then know anything about Christian Science. We had heard of it, but that was all. I gave her the last tablet at eight o'clock that night, and about nine o'clock the next day a lady who had been healed in Christian Science visited her, and introduced her to this great truth. She accepted it and thought she would try it. The lady loaned her Science and Health. She got the book about ten o'clock that day and read it until dinner was called. She ate a hearty dinner, the first in about three days, and that same evening she dressed herself, walked into the dining-room, ate a hearty supper and enjoyed it. She slept well that night. She borrowed this lady's copy of Science and Health two hours each day for eight days, and was healed. The first day that she read Science and Health she weighed about ninety-five pounds. Three months later she weighed one hundred and thirty-five pounds. – A. J. D., Houston, Tex.
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A PROFITABLE STUDY
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It may help others to know that some one was really healed of severe illness through Christian Science. It is over nine years since we first became interested in the Science, and it would be hard to find a healthier person than I am now. I can go all day, from morning till night, upheld by the thought that "they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength." I can truly say that I scarcely know what physical weariness is any more. Before I came into Science the physicians said that one lung was gone, and that the other was affected with tuberculosis; so, from their standpoint, there was little left for me to hope for. We had tried every remedy that they had suggested. I had gone to the mountains, but could not stay there on account of the altitude; and when they did not know what else to do, they said we would better go to England – that the ocean air would be beneficial. So we spent three months in the British Isles, and when I came back I seemed much better, but this only lasted a short time. In little more than a month I was worse than ever, and my mother was told that I had but a few weeks, or at most months, to live.
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At that time, a lady, a stranger to us, suggested that we try Christian Science. There was no prejudice against it, as we did not even know what it was. We knew of no Scientists in the Western town where we were living, and when we were told that we could send to Kansas City for absent treatment, we thought it was absurd. We were then told that many people had been healed through the reading of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, and to us this seemed a little worse than the absent treatment, but as we had tried everything we had heard of up to that time, my mother sent for the book.
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It came in the middle of October and we began to read it together. It seemed to me from the first that it was something I had always believed, but did not know how to express – it seemed such a natural thing. My improvement was very gradual, but I felt I was recovering. After the Christmas holidays I started in at school and went the whole term without missing a day, – something I had never done before. I finished my school course without missing a day – in fact, I have not spent a day in bed since that time. I feel absolutely certain that I have two sound, healthy lungs now. The hollows in my chest have filled out, and I breathe perfectly on both sides; rarely have a cold to meet, and have not a sign of a cough.
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People sometimes say, "Oh, well, maybe you never had consumption." Well, I had all the symptoms, and they are every one gone through the reading of Science and Health. – E. L. B., Chicago, Ill.
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HEALED OF INFIDELITY AND MANY PHYSICAL ILLS
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I feel compelled to write my testimony and hope that I may be accepted as one more witness to the Truth as contained in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.
626:12
In the year 1883 I first heard of Christian Science. I was sitting in a saloon in Leadville, Col., reading a daily paper of that place. My eyes lighted upon an article which spoke of some peculiar people in Boston who claimed to have discovered how to heal as Jesus healed. I do not remember much of the article, but those words stayed with me.
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I had drifted out to Colorado from New York City (my home), where I had been under the treatment of many leading physicians. The last one, who was too honest to take my money knowing that he could not cure me, advised me to keep away from doctors and quit taking medicine, as nothing but death could cure me. My trouble was pronounced by some to be Bright's disease, by others gravel on the kidneys with very acute inflammation of the bladder and prostate gland.
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In the spring of 1888 my wife and myself were spending the evening at the house of a gentleman whose wife had been healed in the East by Christian Science. The gentleman took a book from its bookcase saying, "Here is a work on Christian Science." It proved to be Science and Health. I knew as soon as I had read the title-page that this was the very book we wanted. We immediately sent for the book, and when it arrived we obeyed the angel and feasted on it. I was very much prejudiced against the Bible, and my first demonstration over self was to consent to read the four Gospels. My wife bought me a New Testament and I began to read it. What a change came over me! All my prejudice was gone in an instant! When I read the Master's words, I caught his meaning and the lesson he tried to convey. It was not difficult for me to accept the whole Bible, for I could not help myself, I was just captured. The disease with which I had been troubled for years tormented me worse than ever for about six months, as if trying to turn me aside; but I lost all fear of it.
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I kept up my study of Science and Health and the disease disappeared. I can honestly say that Science and Health was my only healer, and it has been my only teacher. – R. A. C., Los Angeles, Cal.
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DISEASED EYES CURED
627:23
Christian Science came to me when I was a wreck, my body being completely covered with sores. My eyes were very bad, so that I sat in a darkened room for weeks together, most of the time in bed under opiates. The home doctor and a specialist said the disease of the eyes could not be cured, though they might help me for a while. I had one operation, and the doctor said if I took cold I would become totally blind. My suffering was beyond telling.
628:1
A clergyman called almost every day, and sat by my bed and wept, and my good, kind doctor shed tears many times. Finally, after a year of this terrible suffering, I was sent to Indiana, to a sister who had been healed of lung trouble by Christian Science. The first day I was there she read to me from the Bible and from "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, and I was healed. I knew that God was no respecter of persons, and when I saw what had been done for my sister, who was changed from being a mere frame to a strong, robust, healthy, rosycheeked woman, the cough all gone, I said, "God has as much for me, if I will accept it." I was healed instantaneously by Christian Science, and am thankful to God for giving us this understanding through Mrs. Eddy, our beloved Leader. I am now in perfect health. – Mrs. F. S., Laurel, Miss.
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THE TEXTBOOK HEALED ME
628:18
For twelve years previous to the fall of 1897 I had been under the care of a physician much of the time. Different opinions were given by them, as to the nature of the trouble, some diagnosing it as an abnormal growth, etc. I was healed through reading "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy. It was a clear case of transformation of the body by the renewal of the mind. I am perfectly well at the present time. – J. M. H., Omaha, Neb.
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OBSTINATE STOMACH TROUBLE HEALED
628:28
There is no doubt that by far the greater number come to Christian Science by the way of physical healing, but there are those to whom this does not particularly appeal. In the hope that it may be of benefit to some such, and in gratitude for help received, I submit my own experience. Three years ago I knew nothing of Christian Science, aside from the knowledge gathered from the daily papers and current literature. When I thought of the subject at all, it was to class Christian Science with various human theories with which I could not be in sympathy, for they seemed to rely upon both good and evil. I had never known of a case of healing, had never read the textbook or heard of the Journal or Sentinel, but I would sometimes see people going into the Christian Science church. I was tired of trying to find anything satisfactory in religious belief, for it seemed as if God either could not or would not bring into harmony the terrible conditions existing in human society. I had quit using any form of prayer except the Lord's Prayer, and even then omitted the words "lead us not into temptation." How I longed to know just a little of the "why?" and "wherefore?" of it all.
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Here is where Christian Science found me. I was thrown in contact with a dear friend of whom I had seen very little for a year or more, a thoroughly educated woman and a thinker. She told me she had taken some treatments in Christian Science for a physical trouble, and had become very much interested in the study of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy. She asked me if I would like to look at the book, and I said I I would be glad to do so. The first chapter, "Prayer," appealed to me from the first, and when I came to Mrs. Eddy's spiritual sense of the Lord's Prayer (Science and Health, p. 17), my interest was fully aroused. I knew that in a dim way I was learning what it means to "pray without ceasing." Very soon I bought a book of my own, and with the help of our Lesson-Sermons, as given in the Quarterly, I began in earnest the study of Science and Health, in connection with the Bible.
630:5
I stood very much in need of physical healing at this time, having suffered for several years from an obstinate form of stomach trouble. So far as I know, I gave no thought to the benefits I might derive physically from the study, but I did believe this Science held the truth of things, and I was so absorbed in getting an understanding of the Principle that I thought very little of myself. After about three or four months' study I realized that the stomach trouble was gone, and with it went other physical troubles, which have never returned. This healing was brought about by the earnest, conscientious seeking for the truth, as contained in the Bible and interpreted by our Leader in our textbook, Science and Health. I have since learned more of the Science of healing and have been able in a small way to help others in need. I have also learned that in living and loving is healing realized, and in reflecting divine Love I have the "signs following."
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When we think of the pure, loving, unselfish life Mrs. Eddy must have lived in order to become conscious of this truth and give it to us, words are a poor medium through which to express the gratitude which her followers feel for her. It is best expressed by obediently following her, even as she is following Christ. – H. T., Omaha, Neb.
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DYSPEPSIA QUICKLY HEALED
630:29
It has occurred to me that I have had ample time to meditate on the many blessings which I have received through Christian Science, as it is now more than six years since I was entirely healed of dyspepsia as well as constipation in its worst form by the reading of Science and Health. So aggravated were the conditions that for three years or more I was unable to drink a glass of cold water. Everything that I drank had to be hot, and my only means of relief from the bowel trouble was hot water injections, for a period of more than three years.
631:9
I can truthfully say that I was permanently, and I might say instantly, healed of those two ailments by reading Science and Health as before stated, and in fact I do not think I had read more than thirty pages of this book when I ignored entirely the most rigid kind of diet. I ate and drank everything I wished without a single harmful effect from that time to this date, and there has not been a drop of medicine in our home for more than six years, in a family of five.
631:18
I have also seen the power of Truth manifested in our home by having our youngest child relieved of the most excruciating pain, and changed to his most playful mood, immediately upon notifying one of the faithful practitioners of this city. For all this I am endeavoring to be thankful to God and to our faithful Leader, Mrs. Eddy, whose pure and undefiled life enabled her to discover this precious truth for the benefit of all mankind. – M. C. McK., Denver, Col.
631:27
AFTER TWENTY YEARS' SUFFERING
631:28
From early girlhood I was considered an invalid, having been injured by a hard fall while playing. The pain was intense for some time and for several hours I was unable to walk or stand alone. Later, a growing weakness of the back accompanied with sharp pains alarmed my parents, who called a physician, and he pronounced it spinal trouble. Then followed nearly twenty years of increased suffering, at times very severe. As years went by and I became a wife and mother, my suffering increased. Everything that medical skill could do was done, but finding no lasting benefit from anything, I lost hope of recovery.
632:10
When Christian Science found me I was under the doctor's sentence that if I lived the week through I would become entirely helpless, not able to move hand or foot. My husband was a travelling man, and being urgently called home, he met an old friend on the train who asked why we did not try Christian Science. The reply, We know nothing of it, was followed by a brief explanation of its healing power and the benefit his family had received. This inspired my husband with new hope, and on his arrival at home he called on a practitioner, who recommended our getting Science and Health, which we did, but ignorance and the prejudice of old education produced such fear that I hid the book under the covers of the bed whenever the children came into the room, fearing that it was not of God and would injure them. God's dear love was, however, more potent than these foolish fears, and the first day I read from its sacred pages I was convinced its teachings were the same truths as Jesus Christ had taught centuries ago. When I had read a few pages, I reached out and threw my medicine from the open window at the head of my bed. I then turned back to the book and began reading again, when, lo, the Christ-idea dawned upon me, and I was healed instantaneously.
633:1
I first noticed the spot in my back cooling, and soon I got out of bed. I continued to read eagerly; I felt as if I wanted to devour the healing truth, and drank it in as a thirsty plant does the gentle rain. When dinner was prepared, I walked out and ate a hearty meal with the family, to the amazement of all. We shall never forget what a joyful meal this was. How we did thank God for Christian Science!
633:9
As year after year has gone by, till twenty years have passed and the healing has remained perfect, I have grown to thank God with deeper sincerity that one brave woman was found pure enough to bring forth this Christ-healing again, to remain forever among men and to save suffering humanity from all disease and sin. – Mrs. P. L. H., Fairmont, Minn.
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FROM DESPAIR TO HOPE AND JOY
633:17
I have often had a desire to make public what Christian Science has done for me, but I never could tell of all my blessings, they are so many. From childhood I was always sick, never knew one hour of rest, and was under the doctor's care most of the time. I was living in the East at that time, and was advised to try change of climate, which I did. I came West with my family in the spring of the year, but instead of growing better I grew steadily worse, until at last I was obliged to keep my bed for nearly three years, – a great sufferer. My ailments were, it seemed, all that flesh is heir to, and were called incurable by the doctors; viz., Bright's disease, and many others, – in the last stages. My case was known among physicians, many of whom were prominent specialists, as a most extreme one. Many, upon looking at me, would turn away with a wise shake of the head and say, "What keeps her alive?" My physicians, who were exceedingly kind and did all that lay within their power for me, gave me up and the death sentence was pronounced on me by all who attended me.
634:7
It was then I realized that "man's extremity is God's opportunity." The "little book" was handed me at this hour of great need. I read it, not thinking it would heal me, but, like a drowning man, I grasped at it. I read it, read it again, and soon found myself growing stronger; then I kept on reading and was perfectly healed of all the supposedly incurable diseases. – L. B., Austin, Minn.
634:14
TRUTH MAKES FREE
634:15
As the son of a physician, a graduate in pharmacy, and an ex-druggist, I had a perfect contempt for what I thought Christian Science to be. About six and a half years ago, however, having exhausted all material means at my command, – materia medica, electricity, gymnastics, cycling, and so on, – and being in a hopeless state, the study of Christian Science was taken up. I had been a sufferer from catarrh and sore throat for over thirty years, and in the last five were added several others, including dyspepsia, and bronchitis, and a loss in flesh of sixty pounds. I was completely healed, and regained health, strength, and flesh through the spiritual understanding of Christian Science, the result of about six weeks' study. This good and perfect gift came to me through the careful and prayerful study of Christian Science, as revealed to the world to-day through Science and Health. The promise of Christ Jesus, "the truth shall make you free," was fulfilled, and the past six years of health and harmony have been spent in striving to "hold fast that which is good."
635:5
While most grateful for the physical healing, my gratitude for the mental and spiritual regeneration is beyond expression. When I learned that Jesus' mission of healing sickness as well as sin did not end with his short stay upon earth, but is practical in all ages, my joy was unbounded. Having spent thousands in the old way, it seemed wonderful to be healed at such small cost as the price of the "little book" and a few weeks' study. Every thought of prejudice immediately vanished before the proofs that Christian Science is indeed the elucidation and practical application of Jesus' teachings, which are demonstrable truth, "The same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." – C. N. C., Memphis, Tenn.
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DEAF EARS UNSTOPPED
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As a mother of a family my heart goes out in love and gratitude to that good woman we are privileged to call our Leader, for all she has done through her book for me and mine.
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Ten years ago I was healed of hereditary deafness and catarrh of the head, simply through reading the book, Science and Health. For years previous I had consulted and taken treatment from some of the best specialists for the ear and throat, both in England and America, but grew worse all the time. I was then urged by a lady who had been healed through Christian Science to buy this book and study it. I did so very reluctantly, but had not read fifty pages before I felt I had indeed found the truth which makes free, and can truly say, from that time I have never had a return of the ailment.
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That for which I am, however, most grateful, is the daily help it is to me in my household of young children. I am sure if mothers only knew what Christian Science truly means they would give all they possess to know it. We have seen croup, measles, fever, and various other children's complaints, so-called, disappear like dew before the morning sun, through the application of Christian Science, – the understanding of God as ever-present and omnipotent. It has been proven to me without a doubt that God is a very present help in trouble, and what a blessed help this wonderful truth is in the training of our children, and how quickly the child grasps it.
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Some time ago my little girl, then three years old, dislocated her shoulder. I was alone in the house at the time. The pain was so intense that she became faint. I treated her the best I knew how, but kept holding the thought that just as soon as some one came I would run for help. She seemed to grow worse and cried very much. I undressed her and tried to twist the arm into place, but it caused such suffering that I began to get afraid. Then like a flash came the thought, What would you do if you were out of the reach of a practitioner? Now is your time to prove God's power and presence. With these thoughts came such a sense of calm and trustfulness that I lost all fear. I then asked the child if I should read to her; she said "Yes, mamma, read the truth-book." I began reading aloud to her from Science and Health. In about half an hour I noticed she tried to lift the arm but screamed and became very pale. I continued to read aloud and again she made an effort to put some candy into her mouth. This time I noticed with joy that she almost reached her mouth before she felt the pain. I kept reading aloud to her until my sister and two boys came in, when she jumped off her bed, so delighted to see her brothers that she forgot her arm. She then began to tell her aunt that she had broken her arm and mamma treated it with the truthbook. When this happened, it was about 10.30 A. M. and by 3 P. M. she was playing out doors as though nothing had ever happened. – Mrs. M. G., Winnipeg, Man.
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SAVED FROM INSANITY AND SUICIDE
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A few years ago, while under a sense of darkness and despair caused by ill health and an unhappy home, Science and Health was loaned me with a request that I should read it.
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At that time my daughter was given up by materia medica to die of lingering consumption, supposed to have been inherited. My own condition seemed even more alarming, as insanity was being manifested, and rather than go to an insane asylum, it seemed to me the only thing to do was to commit suicide. Heart trouble, kidney complaint, and continual headaches caused from female trouble were some of the many ailments I had to contend with. My doctor tried to persuade me to undergo an operation as a means of relief, but I had submitted to a severe operation ten years previous, and found only additional suffering as a result, so I would not consent.
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When I began with Science and Health, I read the chapter on "Prayer" first, and at that time did not suppose it possible for me to remember anything I read, but felt a sweet sense of God's protection and power, and a hope that I should at last find Him to be what I so much needed, – a present help in time of trouble. Before that chapter on "Prayer" was finished, my daughter was downstairs eating three meals a day, and daily growing stronger. Before I had finished reading the textbook she was well, but never having heard that the reading of Science and Health healed any one, it was several months before I gave God the glory.
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One by one my many ailments left me, all but the headaches; they were less frequent, until at the end of three years the fear of them was entirely overcome.
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Neither myself nor my daughter have ever received treatments, but the study of the Bible and Science and Health, the Christian Science textbook by Mrs. Eddy, has healed us and keeps us well.
638:20
While Christian Science was very new to me, I attended an experience meeting in First Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago. A gentleman told of an unhappy woman who was about to separate from her husband. This gentleman had asked her if she did not love her husband. She replied, "No; when I married him I did, but not now." He told her God made man in His image and likeness, and that He is perfect. He said to her, "Go home and see only God's perfect man; you don't need to love a sinful mortal such as you have been looking upon." The lady followed his advice, as he told her there is no separation in divine Mind. In a short time peace and harmony were in her home, and
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