AT the outset of this testimony it may be of interest to state that one in the ranks of journalism has surrendered completely to the Cause of Christian Science, after having been most active for many years on the line of bitter opposition. Truth came into my life less than a year ago, and the changes which have been effected since then are almost incredible. To-day I am a new creature, and no words can picture my blessings or express my gratitude. Reared in a strictly orthodox church, and in younger manhood called for musical work to several sanctuaries, I became "lettered" in the various phases of the old faith. I tried earnestly to accept the teachings proffered by preachers, Sunday School teachers, and immediate friends, each of whom seemed to have a particular mission of winning me over to his form of thought, but without avail. What was the hindrance? Simply the total disregard shown by all of them for God's power to heal, as emphasized so dynamically in Christ's walk among men; and the absence of spirituality—a natural sequence. Rapidly becoming a physical wreck, and being driven nigh to infidelity by a conglomeration of so-called instruction, I needed exactly what I was not getting. Hope was nearly gone and my whole condition was deplorable.
During the time I was endeavoring to be a disciple of orthodoxy, in the common version of that term, I joined the forces warring against Christian Science. My attitude was taken, primarily, because of the attacks of those in whom I had placed deepest confidence and because of my misapprehension of its teachings. I wrote much and said more, even advancing so far as to insult Scientists to their faces ; but the kindly smile and loving manner which gave response to my vituperation, served to prove me the coward and them the heroes. At Fort Collins, Col., I was detailed to write a criticism of the first lecture on Christian Science that was delivered there, and the first one with which I had ever had anything to do. Like many in the large audience, I went there prejudiced beyond degree—yea, I had dreamed for days of the scathing article that should come from my pen and be read with avidity in the local daily.
Here begins the story of my rebirth. So intensely interested did I become with the initial remarks of the speaker, that I forgot to take notes, as I had been wont to do under such circumstances. As the discourse continued, I could feel a change going on within me, and when the lecture was concluded I hastened to greet several Scientists, and they naturally manifested much surprise when I announced that the effort was the greatest I had been privileged to listen to. It not only appeared strange to my friends in Science that I should be so suddenly turned in thought, but my associates in the other churches were moved with astonishment as the news went out that I had declared in favor of Christian Science both privately and through the columns of a newspaper. It is needless to say that my criticism of the lecture was exactly the opposite of what had been anticipated by me, and while it was a feeble attempt to disclose what had been said, still it was my honest opinion and was deemed of enough importance to be reproduced in full in this periodical. I immediately purchased a copy of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, and began its perusal. When I read the wonderful sentence which opens the Preface, I was convinced that I had discovered a lasting treasure, a storehouse from which had come the good that had been accepted by me the evening before.
