Four years ago I became very ill. and in spite of the close attention of the physicians grew constantly weaker and thinner. At the end of six weeks I could not sit up, after being carried to a rocker, long enough to have my bed made, without fainting away. To retain food was impossible and I was kept from constant pain only by the use of drugs. At this juncture it was decided that nothing but an operation would benefit me. This I refused to undergo and in despair turned to Christian Science. A practitioner was sent for and I shall never forget the first afternoon that she spent with me. I was so happy and felt such a sense of relief from pain and disquiet, until she arose to go, saying, "To-morrow, if you wish, you may come to see me." Oh the despair those words brought, because I believed that after having given a detailed account of my suffering, the dreadful weakness, etc., she did not realize the first thing about it and therefore could never help me. To my sense of things, the request that I dress and walk eight blocks the following day was as impossible a requirement as to ask me to fly there. With the morrow, however, came new conditions. I arose and dressed, walked down stairs, and ate a hearty breakfast with the family. I was about the house the entire day and the only thing that deterred my going to the practitioner as she had suggested, was the solicitation of my husband, who feared I might be losing my mind. The following day, however. I went to her, and the fourth day began doing my housework.
Although my knowledge of this wonderful truth is slight, all the material wealth of the world could not buy it from me, nor could I be dissuaded from its use as a practical every-day religion. The knowledge "that there is no power apart from God" (Science and Health, p. 228), is our salvation, physically, financially, and spiritually. The love and gratitude for Mrs. Eddy which this knowledge brings, is the most heartfelt appreciation for her reflection of divine Mind, whom to know aright is life eternal.
Long Beach, Cal.
