EXPERIENCES OF SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL HEALING
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
Who healeth all thy diseases..”-Psa. ciii:23.
Chelmsfort, Mass., April 29, 1881
My Dear Sister In Christ:
I am happy to comply with your request to furnish you an account of my protracted sickness, and marvelous restoration to health and comparative strength, in answer to "the prayer of faith," and you are at liberty to make such sue of it as in your judgement will best subserve the Redeemer's cause, and lead other suffering ones and their friends to seek unto the Great Physician, for the cure of all sickness, bodily and spiritual. For more than ten years previous to the last December, 1880, I was, most of the time, a confirmed invalid, and during the greater part a great sufferer in body and mind, being in a constant state of anxiety. My malady was nervous prostration and general debility, which exhibited itself in terrible spasms, if at any time I inadvertently became over-fatigued, or failed in any degree to be constantly watchful in regard to my food, not only as to the kind, the quantity, and manner of preparation, but also as to the time and manner of eating. I was first prostrated in the summer of 1870, after which for several weeks I was unable to feed myself, or to be raised up in bed, and could not bear reading or talking, and my hold upon life seemed to be very slender. Keenly do I remember the strange sensation I experienced on first being assisted to stand for a moment on my feet. In the moment of April, 1871, I so far recovered as to be able to take a journey of five hundred miles by rail in a private apartment of a drawing-room car where I could lie down, except the first nine miles, which was in a carriage, over an uneven road. About the first of July, I was again prostrated, and with the exception of short intervals, failed steadily until the middle of December. Under a change of physicians and treatment I improved so much that in a month of August following I made a journey of about five hundred miles. Following the spring of 1873, for about three years, though not strong, I was able to do considerable work, and part of the time drove occasionally alone in a carriage. The last three years have been a period of almost uninterrupted anxiety, alternating between hope and fear, and much of the time I was completely prostrated. During much of this latter period my food was restricted to a very few simple articles, prepared in the plainest manner, to prevent, as far as possible, a frequent recurrence of spasms, each of which reduced me very low for days or weeks, and often for months at a time. The least excitement was sufficient to induce one of these attacks. I was obligated to deny myself the privilege of meeting friends and neighbors, and was unable to ride, or walk, except a very short distance, on account of the dread, and premonitory symptoms of a spasm, if I was not actually seized with one, which was not unfrequently the case, and at times when taking a meal of the simplest food, and that, too, when I felt I had been unusually strong for a few days.
For nearly three months at the close of last year, I had been mostly confined to my room and bed, my food having been limited to three or four articles, and scarcely able to obtain a quiet, refreshing night's sleep. The last week I had been steadily failing.
At the time I heard of your case, my dear sister, and your book, "The Prayer of Faith," and I was led, through them, to look to the Great Physician; and, thanks be to God, I have not been turned empty away.
Thursday, December 30, 1880, I suffered more than language can describe, from a succession of spasms from the middle of the day until near midnight, and Friday morning could no raise my head from my pillow, and seemed to be sinking rapidly.
Thursday evening's mail brought us a copy of your book, and my husband perused it during the night while watching at my bedside.
About eight o'clock Friday morning my daughter began to read me the account of your case, and I very soon began to see a little light, and in one hour after, I resolved to give myself into Jesus' hands, and I have not taken a particle of medicine since that terrible Thursday night, or resorted to any medical treatment whatever. Before two o'clock I walked down stairs with my daughter's assistance, and on Sunday, January 2, two days after, I walked on the ground a distance of one hundred yards.
Friday night I slept as quietly as a healthy child, as I have most of the time since. I have had no inconvenience on account of my food, though I soon took my meals with the rest of the family, eating the same as was provided for them. I have not has a spasm since the night to which I have referred.
It had not been deemed prudent to leave me alone scarcely for a moment, day or night, for several months, nor had I been willing to be alone for fear of a spasm, but within two or three days I was alone an hour or more at a time without the least anxiety. In a few weeks I walked alone, along the common country road, on a snow-path, a distance of a forth of a mile. For more than a month past I have called on friends and neighbors, and receive and enjoy calls, read, and write letters, and do considerable home work.
I must not fail to declare that the Great Physician has manifested His power and mercy as remarkable a manner in spiritual healing as in the physical. To His name be all the praise.
Very Sincerely,
Your sister in Christ,
Mrs. J.R. Fletcher
