About seven years ago I became ill, and as was usual with me I called in a doctor, who treated me for some time and then advised me to go to the seashore for a change of scene and climate. I went, but returned in a worse condition than before going. After my return I called on my doctor, and he seemed puzzled that I had become worse while away. He made another examination, but this diagnosis was totally different from the first one, and he told me that he could not do much for me. By a great effort I kept on working, because my financial condition demanded that I should, and I wondered daily how long I could continue, for I was losing ground rapidly. I then tried another physician, who treated me for about a month and who kept me on my feet by the use of powerful stimulants When I discovered the nature of the medicine I was taking, I discontinued its use, and there was almost a total collapse. Fear with its baneful influence then came in and I remembered that two sisters had passed away with some mysterious malady when about my present age, and I was seemingly going in the same way.
My wife became greatly alarmed about my condition, and having heard that Christian Science had healed a friend of ours, she asked him to our home to tell us about it. He called, and told us what Christian Science had done for him, and I could see that he was physically a different man from what he was when I last saw him. I could not believe that the change had been brought about by prayer, for I had heard in my youth and early manhood many prayers for many things without any apparent results; and now, alter seventeen years of unbelief in the existence of God, to think that a man's physical body could be healed by praying to God and relying on Him alone, seemed out of the question. My wife, however, would not give up the idea that I should try Christian Science, and to please her I ca led on a practitioner. That first meeting, that first glimpse of the truth, I shall not forget, for it gave me a ray of hope where there had been despair, and it prepared me for what was to come. The next day brought the most blessed thing that ever entered into my life, my first treatment in Christian Science. That treatment destroyed in my consciousness the fear of disease, and practically healed me then and there. I almost cried aloud in thanksgiving to that God whom I had so often denied, and whom I now knew to be a very present help in trouble.
Since that time Christian Science, when applied according to the rules given us in our text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, has never failed me; and it is teaching me and helping me to overcome many ungodlike conditions. I wish to say in conclusion that I have not words sufficient to express my gratitude for this Science, or my reverence for our beloved Leader, Rev. Mary Baker G. Eddy.
