I received the first glimpse of Christian Science about four and a half years ago, through a friend who gave me a copy of the Sentinel to read. Although I read it from beginning to end and enjoyed the reading, it did not seem to make very much impression on me. Shortly afterward I came into my present position, on a fruit ranch, and the first thing I found in the bunkhouse was a copy of Science and Health written by Mrs. Eddy. It was in January, the evenings were long, and remembering the Christian Science Sentinel that I had read in Longmont, I thought I might as well read this book, and find out whether this so-called "Key to the Scriptures" would open up the Bible for me. I had, however, no great expectations on that point. I had listened to many ministers, in different churches, who explained the Bible according to their different creeds, but not one could satisfy or convince me that any creed came nearer to the truth than did that of the church in which I was raised in Holland. The reading of Science and Health did not at first give me much light. One day I felt sick,—I could not work, not even move from my chair, on account of an old ailment, lumbago, which almost paralyzed me. I was sitting in the bunkhouse, with my back close to a hot stove, reading in Science and Health, when my employer, a very sincere Christian Scientist, came in. I told him that I could not rise from my chair to shake hands, as I was unable to move; that I was reading Science and Health and trying to make myself believe that I had no pain; but that I could not do it. He very kindly offered to write to a Christian Scientist, asking her to treat me, and this I accepted. It was not hard for me to discard drugs or plasters, because I had used all kinds of material means, under the advice of many doctors, without any good result, and I knew they could not do me any good. The thing had to run its course, I thought. It had always lasted from three to six weeks, sometimes longer, before I could move around or straighten up again without pain. I did not believe or expect that any one could help me, and I was astonished when, the same morning after the lady received the letter, the pain gradually left me, and a few days afterward I was at work again. I then knew that there must be something in this Science, and I followed the kind practitioner's advice to read the Bible and Science and Health, no matter whether I readily understood or not. She told me to be as a little child, to trust in God, and that the understanding would come in proportion to my earnest endeavor.
I had been wearing glasses, and very strong ones, too, for many years. Without glasses I could neither read nor write. While reading Science and Health one evening, something impelled me to take my glasses off,—and lo, I could read. Gradually my sight improved, and I have no trouble now to read anything and I do all my writing without the use of glasses. This demonstration was made not long after I was healed from lumbago, through the reading of the Christian Science literature. My wife, who also became interested in Christian Science, was wearing glasses, too, but she does not use them now. We have several of the works of Mrs. Eddy, besides the Sentinel, Journal and Quarterly, and we love to read the lesson together. I have not missed a day's work, because of sickness, since my healing. The old evils sometimes try to get me under control, but I am thankful to say that Truth and Love has always been victorious in a short time, and usually without my having to ask help from others. All this, although wonderful, taking my age into consideration, is not the whole. The study of Christian Science has made us happier than we have been during our married life of over forty years. Worry, quick temper, bad habits have been overcome almost entirely, and God's peace, that passeth human understanding, is come to us.
As it is our duty to acknowledge Christ, Truth, before men, we gratefully thank God that we live in this age when infinite Love has again been manifested to men through the inspired works and the life of our dear Leader, Mrs. Eddy.— El Dorado Orchards, Col.
