Chapter 18: 'Science and Health with Key to The Scriptures' by Mary Baker Eddy

Chapter XVIII - Fruitage

692:1
I had longed for all my life, – a Mother, a perfect

"Father-Mother God." I had known there was a

great lack, and at that time I believe the orthodox

world had but half of the truth which Jesus came to

establish. When I read, "Give us this day our daily

bread," and its spiritual interpretation, my tears began

to flow; all the years of bitterness, hate, and fear melted

away. I knew then, as I know now, that nothing satisfies

but Love. That day began the outward and inward

conscious healing, – mental and physical. There never

came a doubt! I absolutely knew that Christian Science

was and is the truth. Money, friends, materiality, are

nothing beside the conscious knowledge of God, man,

and the universe.

692:15
I did not need treatment from any one, – Science

and Health was so clear and beautiful. I could not

understand the Bible before, but I found it illumined

now that I had a little understanding of Christian

Science. For ten years I have not had to lie down in

the daytime from any sickness. I am now, and have

been all these years, the picture of perfect health.

When I first read Science and Health I weighed one

hundred and four pounds; I now weigh over one hun-

dred and sixty. This physical health is not to be com-

pared to my happiness, – my harmony that nothing

can take away, – because it is the gift of God. Nothing

has shown me the perversity of the human mind more

than in its conclusions in regard to my healing. Even

when I felt and knew that I was healed, people con-

stantly said, because I was thin and delicate looking,

"You are not well, any one could look at you and know

it." Now that I am fleshy, they say, "You don't look

693:1
as if you ever had a pain in all your life. You could not

have had consumption."

693:3
When I think what my life was before I had Christian

Science, of the six years of colds, suffering, and cough-

ing, not to mention the unhappiness, I want to "work,

watch, and pray" for the Mind of Christ, that I may work

rightly in God's vineyard, and to know that in truth, what

belongs to one belongs to all, – that one God, one Life,

Truth, and Love is all. – A. C. L., Kansas City, Kans.

693:10
DESIRE FOR LIQUOR AND TOBACCO DISAPPEARED

693:11
I first heard of Christian Science four years ago. At

that time drinking and smoking were my comforters. I

had no other companionship. I had lived almost con-

stantly from childhood in an evil atmosphere. Though

I was far from being satisfied with my condition, I failed

to see how to better it until I read Science and Health.

I used occasionally to listen to a sermon, but sermons

did not give me any more comfort than I derived from

my pipe, hence I concluded that church-going could not

satisfy me and I preferred drinking and smoking. When

I began to read Science and Health, I saw it offered some-

thing substantial. After a few months' study all desire

for drinking and smoking disappeared. I did not give

them up; I made no sacrifices, I simply found some-

thing better. I might mention that I had smoked ever

since I can remember. I used to smoke years before I

left school, and, like most Englishmen, loved my pipe, and

would almost prefer to miss a meal rather than to go

without my smoke. I used to think it gave me comfort.

693:30
During my four years' study of Christian Science I

694:1
have not spent a cent for doctors or medicine, neither

have I lost a day from my work on account of sickness,

which compares wonderfully with the previous four years.

I take a great interest and pleasure in reading the Bible

and studying the lessons in the Quarterly. The Bible

used to be a most mysterious book to me, but Science

and Health makes it a most precious book, making its

meaning clearer, plainer, and simpler.

694:9
I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Mrs.

Eddy and to the friend who invited me to attend the ser-

vice held in the Auditorium years ago. I also wish to

acknowledge the benefit I have had from the Journal

and the Sentinel. They have helped me wonderfully. If

the value of Science and Health and these publications

were measured as business men value things, by the

results or benefits they bring, they certainly would be

priceless to me. It would be impossible to measure

their value, as I have got something from Science and

Health that all the money in the world could not buy. –

H. P. H., Chicago, Ill.

694:21
AN EXPRESSION OF LOVING GRATITUDE

694:22
In the spring of 1893, while studying for the minis-

try, Science and Health was placed in my hands, and

the truth contained therein at once became to me the

pearl of great price. I literally devoured the book,

reading it about eighteen hours a day. Its originality

was startling, upsetting my preconceived opinions of

God, man, and creation. Two sentences especially

appealed to me: "The foundation of mortal discord is a

false sense of man's origin" (p. 262), and, "For right

695:1
reasoning, there should be but one fact before the thought,

namely, spiritual existence" (p. 492). I had found the

keynote to the Science of being as taught in this marvel-

lous book, and persevered until a glimpse of the new heav-

ens and new earth came, for the old were passing away.

With this spiritual uplifting came also physical health.

695:7
All my life had been spent in semi-invalidism, and

I seemed destined to a life of suffering. In three

weeks after beginning Science and Health, to my joy-

ful surprise I found myself a well man, sound physi-

cally, and uplifted spiritually. Life was being lived

from a new basis, the old things of personal sense

were passing away and all things becoming new. I

learned that the infinite good is the one Friend upon

whom we can call at all times, an all-powerful, ever‑

present help in every time of trouble; that His children

are really governed in peace and harmony by spiritual

law, and as the right understanding of it is gained, the

other things soon follow, bringing a peace the human

concept can never know.

695:21
For the last twelve years my whole time has been

devoted to Christian Science practice, and I have seen

nearly every so-called incurable disease healed by its

beneficent influence. God bless our dear Leader! She

has set before us an open door, which no man can shut,

and it is but a question of time when the world will know

her better and love her more. – E. E. N., Washington,

D. C.

695:29
HEALED OF BRIGHT'S DISEASE

695:30
August 18, 1902, I was taken down with what three

doctors pronounced Bright's disease, and they stated

696:1
that I would not live a year, or if I did succeed in liv-

ing longer, I would be mentally unbalanced. On Decem-

ber 6, 1902, my wife presented me with Science and

Health as a birthday gift, and it was indeed the

best present I ever received. Since that time I have

been reading it and attending the Second Church

here. I have not used any medicine since, nor has any

one in our home. I am in the finest of health and have

lost all my bad habits. This truth has brought a great

spiritual uplifting to all of us, and words cannot express

my gratitude to Mrs. Eddy and to all who have helped

me to the same. – T. V., Chicago, Ill.

696:13
FIBROID TUMOR DESTROYED

696:14
When quite young I was impressed that the Bible

was not properly interpreted by the preachers, for I

could not conceive of a God of wrath who was unjust

enough to allow His little ones to suffer pain, misery, and

death. I had hope, however, that some day the truth

would be revealed to an awakening world, but little did

I dream that even then there was one of God's noble

women who reflected sufficient purity and holiness to

entertain the "angel of his presence," and commune with

the true God.

696:24
I was believed to be predisposed to scrofula, so that

I was not a strong or attractive child, and my girlhood

and womanhood were scarcely ever free from dread of

the laws of matter and lack of strength. The climax

was reached when a physician informed me, after weeks

of treatment, that I had a fibroid tumor, which required

an operation. The conditions were most trying and I

697:1
was heartsick and discouraged when, in January, 1893,

I heard of Christian Science through a letter from a dear

sister who had been greatly benefited thereby, and I re-

solved to go at once to a practitioner, for I believed it

to be the long-lost truth that would make me free. It

meant a great effort and sacrifice for me to go to Chicago

at that time, but divine Love opened the way and I reached

there in March. I had been in my sister's home but

a few days, reading Science and Health almost con-

stantly, when I asked her if I had not better have

treatment for the tumor, which had given me so much

trouble. She said to me, "You feel well, do you not?"

I assured her that I never had felt so well as I had since

reaching there. "Well," she said with decision, "your

tumor is gone, for God never made it," and her statements

were true, for it has never been heard of from that day.

Since then I have been healed of chronic sore throat,

hay fever, and other troubles, and I know that Christian

Science is the truth. – B. W. S., Coldwater, Mich.

697:21
LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS

697:22
I have received so much benefit from the testimonies

in the Sentinel and Journal that I send mine, hoping

it may cheer some struggling heart. I was reared by

kind and loving Christian parents and was a member

of an orthodox church for over twenty years, but I was

never satisfied. I was filled with fear and bound down

by the false gods of this world, – sin, disease, and pov-

erty; consequently every way I turned, and in everything

I attempted to do, I was met with disappointment and

failure; but God was leading me into a different life.

698:1
My interest was first awakened to Christian Science

about thirteen years ago, and I have been a willing dis-

ciple ever since. Through the reading of Science and

Health I was healed of chronic catarrh and laryngitis,

and it also enabled me to lay off my glasses. Christian

Science has not only helped me mentally, morally, and

physically, but the greatest blessing of all is the spirit-

ual uplifting which enabled me to know that God is both

able and willing to care for His children, if we are but

willing to do our part and bear the cross which, though

it seems heavy at times, always brings a sure reward.

Christian Science has not only helped me, but it has

enabled me to help others.

698:14
The Bible is a new book to me. I now see what

Jesus meant when he said, "Come unto me, all ye that

labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

698:17
My heart goes out in gratitude to Mrs. Eddy for the

work she has done and is still doing for the world, and

to God I am most grateful that He has guided me into the

truth, that I may have life, and have it more abundantly.

– Mrs. M. M., Chicago, Ill.

698:22
A PRICELESS BOON

698:23
I have long desired to express my gratitude for what

Christian Science has done, through reading Science

and Health, for me and my family. I was healed of

profanity, the tobacco habit, and a bad temper, through

the understanding that man is the image and likeness of

God. I was also healed of kidney disease and rheuma

tism. What surprised me most, however, was this; I

had had one finger thrown out of place some fifteen years

699:1
before. It was crooked, but it became straight and use-

ful. A bone in my foot had also been broken, leaving

a bunch, which disappeared after I studied Christian

Science and received class instruction. I am an entirely

well man and for this I am very grateful. I am also

glad that I have learned enough of Truth and love to

be able to heal others. I wish to express my thankful

appreciation of our Leader, also of the Sentinel and the

Journal. – N. R. F., Salina, Kans.

699:10
HEALED OF CONSUMPTION AND ASTHMA

699:11
It is a pleasure to acknowledge the great benefits which

have come to me through Christian Science. It is nearly

ten years since I began the investigation of the subject by

borrowing a copy of Science and Health. I had become

a hopeless sufferer from asthma, – the disease being so

aggravated at times as to make breathing almost impos-

sible. I was also a victim of that dread disease, consump-

tion. It was hereditary, nearly all my family on both

sides having passed away with it. I took up Christian

Science very much as a drowning man catches at a straw.

However, I was much interested as soon as I began to

understand it, and having read the book nearly all my

waking hours for a few weeks, I became so much better

and so convinced of its truth, that myself and wife de-

stroyed all the medicines in the home, and have never

since used any remedy except Christian Science. I con-

tinued to study and to put into practice the teaching as

best I knew, and was restored to health in a few months.

699:29
Prior to my investigation of Christian Science I had

been from boyhood an outspoken infidel, had read that

700:1
class of literature extensively, and had no desire for

anything of a religious nature, – the orthodox teaching

never having appealed to me as a rational exposition of

an all-wise God. I now have no more doubt of the truth

of the teaching of the great Way-shower, Jesus of Naza-

reth, than I doubt the correctness of the basic law of

mathematics or music. I have no doubt whatever that

Christian Science saved me from the grave, and thus

proved a most practicable and efficient help in time of

greatest need. However great my physical suffering has

been, I can but feel glad that through it the door of con-

sciousness was opened to let in the light of Truth. Thus

I have progressed a little way in the knowledge of God,

good, as revealed in Christian Science. – C. B., Webb

City, Mo.

700:16
A GRATEFUL TESTIMONY

700:17
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto

my path."

700:19
This has been proven to me in every way. When

Christian Science came to me, I was a wreck, physically,

mentally, and financially; but since the reading of Sci-

ence and Health turned my thought toward the light, I

have found that, as far as I am willing to receive the word

and live it, all comforts are supplied me. I am especially

grateful for the spiritual help. I know that things which

I did and thought last year I would not do or think this

year, and am satisfied. Through the careful and prayer-

ful study of Science and Health I have been lifted from

sickness to health, from sorrow to peace, from lack to

plenty, and, the most beautiful of all, from darkness to

light. – Mrs. H. S. C., Seattle, Wash.

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