Our Bible tells us we must acknowledge God in all our ways. To do this aright we must first gain some true conception of what God is. It is in this better understanding of God—of His perfect creation and the perfect laws which govern all here and now, that Christian Science has been such a great blessing and which I wish to acknowledge.
I was born and brought up in an orthodox church by pious parents, and I can never be too thankful for this great blessing, because this early study of the Bible and implicit, childlike faith in God and in His word, is the good seed which must spring up and bear good fruit. It can never be lost, even though it may seem to be lost for a time. In the Puritan village where I lived the children went regularly to church all day on the Sabbath. We had a long sermon in the morning, Sunday School at noon, sermon again in the afternoon, a conference or prayer meeting in the evening. Often these long sermons were thunderings of God's vengeance upon all those who neglected His service.
Later in life, when I went out into the world, I sometimes met ridicule of the Bible and of religion, which I did not know how to answer. My prayers, too, seemed to fail and the positive promises to be unfulfilled. yet when sore pressed by troubles God was always my "refuge and strength, a very present help," and through all He has led me toward a better understanding of Himself. When I first heard of Christian Science it was not presented to me correctly, and seemed ridiculous; but seeing many good results in corrected lives—pride and self overcome as well as sickness—I looked more deeply into it. The claim that the healing was the Christ-healing which our Saviour taught, practised, and commanded all his followers to teach and practise, appealed to me very strongly; but the application of Truth—the Word of God—to the healing of physical sickness seemed very intangible. I could not grasp it at all. My first experience in healing was a proof that it was practical. I had been for years subject to severe colds, which my family feared would end in consumption. In Germany I consulted a prominent physician who gave me a simple remedy, which for nearly ten years kept me free from severe colds, or rather my faith in it kept me free. I carried it with me everywhere and used it on the first appearance of symptoms of sore throat, and it seemed infallible. When a Christian Scientist told me that drugs never healed, that it was our faith in them that healed us, I replied that was not true, that I had a remedy which had kept me free from colds for years and that I must go home and use it, for my throat was then very sore and my bad colds, often ending in months of misery, always began in that way. She said, "If you will do without it to-night, I will treat you and you will find it gone in the morning." I promised, and did find myself well, and the treatment was a positive proof. The old and tried remedy was never used again, although I afterwards had many battles with colds, or rather with my own fear of them and my own faith in drugs to remove the fear, but I have always come off victor, and faith in the All-presence and Power of divine Love, the one Saviour, has grown stronger through these battles with error.
