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The greatest breakthrough, however, resulted from own initial healing and from the momentous scientific facts that were coming to light in her thoughts, which manifested themselves with the same enormous force and utility that was common in Jesus' time. From this point on, progress became driven by the application of scientific principles leading to creative discoveries. Within a year of her own healing, Mary Baker Eddy was not only able to assist a physician, taking his most difficult cases, but also found it possible to teach to others her newly discovered science of Christ healing, who, then, could achieve the same kind of results. She had taught for twenty-two years, both privately, and commercially through the Massachusetts Metaphysical College that she had set up in 1881 for this purpose. She had personally taught over four-thousand students in this college until she closed its doors in 1889.
The effect of teaching about the truth.
It is reported that Mary Baker Eddy would require the students in her classes (usually at the end of the third or fourth day of instruction) to go out and heal someone. The report states, that with a few rare exceptions, all the students did so, and this in spite of the fact that most of them were strangers in Boston where the classes were held. One student tells that he returned to his lodging and confided to his land-lady that he had no idea where to find a sick person, as he knew no one. To this the lady replied: "You can heal me: for I am totally deaf in one ear."
As the report goes; the student ran up to his room full of joy to have found someone, and instantly turned in thought to what he had just learned. At that instant the land-lady felt a report like a pistol shot in the ear, and ran after him, calling, "I am healed!"*(A century of Christian Science Healing p.8)
The healing work in those days, evidently, came about by a certain level of scientific understanding of Truth that was communicable in simple ways and had profound effects. While psychological factors have been cited as a possible cause for these healings, it is unlikely that psychological factors were involved, for the effects of the metaphysical treatments where too dramatic in most cases, to be explainable in terms of psychosomatic healing. Psychosomatic healing is rarely instantaneous and reminiscent in its efficacy of the Christ healing that was practiced by Jesus of Nazareth.
One case that may be cited as an illustration of the type of healing that Mary Baker Eddy had pioneered, was that of a helpless cripple whose limbs were so drawn up and rigid that he could not as much as brush a fly off his face. He had to be carried, or be lifted into his wheel chair. Occasionally, a certain policeman would wheel the man out onto Boston's Common, where he was noticed one day by Mary Baker Eddy as she was passing by. She stopped for a moment and spoke to him of the truth she had discovered. Then she walked on. The man felt that he was helped by her, and asked to be taken to the same place again during the following days and weeks in the hope to meet her once more. His perseverance paid off. One day he saw the woman again. She came the same way as before and stopped at his wheel chair, repeating to him more or less what she had said before, and then walked on.
The man reported that he was totally healed at this second encounter. He was not only able to move his limbs again, but was able to walk like any other man, and go into business for himself. Whereas, before he was so crippled that he had to be fed every single meal, he now became fully able to care for himself and earn his own living in a vigorous manner.*(A Century of Christian Science Healing p.9) It may be added that such cases were by no means unusual at the time.
The this healing was no a case of personality induced psychosomatic healing is quite clear, as the man had no idea who the woman was. Modern concepts acknowledge the possibility of psychosomatic healing. We read in medical journals of remarkable spontaneous remission of certain diseases. The facts, however, that were presented about the crippled man who was healed in the above case, fall far outside the parameters that are accepted today for psychosomatic healing and spontaneous remissions. Remissions with such enormous impact, and with a timing that brings them about literally on demand, simply are not observed in medical practice.
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Stories about
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from novels by Rolf A. F. Witzsche
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