In Revelation we read, "These are they which came out of great tribulation;" and I have thought how apropos this statement is to the experience of many Christian Scientists, I being one who has come out of the torture of Hades itself. Of one thing I am sure,—if I could be freed through Christian Science, any one can.
As a very young girl I was dissatisfied, discontented, a slave to fits of depression, emotional, temperamental,—always seeking happiness, but never finding it. Finally, at the age of twenty-five, I found myself at the end of a five years' domestic situation that could result in but one thing,— separation. My wreck of a life tumbled about my head, crushing me down with it. For nearly four years more I stumbled on alone, blind with misery, dead to all that was beautiful and helpful, conscious only of physical pain and mental wretchedness. The farce of having to try to earn something toward my support, when I did not want to live, almost drove me insane.
As a child, I had been very religious, having had tender training at home; but I grew to feel that if there was a God and He even permitted, much less sent, my trouble, I hated Him. And yet, in the still watches of the night, I have cried out, "God, if you're there, awaken me to a realization of your existence." I had come to the end of everything: health and happiness were gone; every hope in life was gone.
