For twenty-five years I was a member of an orthodox church, loving it and seeking to be active in its good works During a part of this time I was a sufferer from physical ills but it never occurred to me that I should look to my church for relief. I was under the care of skilful physicians and used medicines in great quantity. Then came a crisis. Disease in many forms had so fastened itself upon me that my heart was filled with discouragement. I was a weary invalid and, as I felt, a fast growing burden to my friends
My right arm had become entirely useless and my hand so swollen as to be unnatural even in appearance. For four months I was quite helpless, confined to my bed, and having to be waited upon like a child. One of my good doctors pronounced my trouble rheumatism in its most aggravated form, while another declared it a case of bloodpoisoning. I did not then know that there was any help besides materia medica, and it was there I placed my sole reliance,—employing three physicians at one time. I was also suffering from a dread of a surgical operation which had been advised as a relief for another serious complaint.
This was the state of things with me when first I heard of Christian Science. There were times when I could go out, accompanied by some member of the family. One day, while calling upon one of my medical advisers, I was told that I should be compelled to go through the remainder of my life with withered fingers. This sentence deprived me of my last hope, and I went into a neighboring store, and there, in tones of bitterness, bewailed my fate. This proved to be the dark hour before the dawn, for there I met a pitying friend who asked me why I did not try Christian Science. "If you could see my hand you would not think that Christian Science could ever help me!" I cried The friend did not wish to see my hand, but advised me to have a talk with a Christian Scientist who was an old friend of mine. At this, there came quickly to my mind the recollection of the sharp criticisms of Christian Science to which I had listened, and which I had expressed, but with it came a lurking desire to apply for the help that others had professed to find. But could I dare seek aid in what I had heretofore despised, and so prove disloyal to my own much-loved church and to the physicians who, with unremitting kindness, were doing all in their power to aid me? Truth answered this question for me.
