THE paths by which people come to Christian Science are almost as varied as the individuals who come. Two general types were pointed out by Jesus in the parable of the hid treasure and the pearl of great price. In the first a man is digging in a field, and apparently by accident he comes upon a hidden treasure. In his enthusiasm he sells all that he may possess it. Then we have the woman who, on meeting Jesus at the well, by what seemed to her an accident, in her haste forgot her water-pots, and ran to the town to tell the people she had found the Christ. There is also the man who is seeking for goodly pearls. At last he finds what he has been seeking for years, the pearl of great price, and in a very deliberate way he goes and sells all, that he may possess this great treasure. Such an one as this was Nicodemus, who came to Jesus cautiously by night, after a careful study of his works; then, at the trial of Jesus, when most of his immediate followers had forsaken him, this man stood faithful.
At an early age I became dissatisfied with many of the traditional beliefs of the church, and later was not fully satisfied with my religious experience. I occasionally met people who seemed to have a peace and joy which I did not possess. Some friends at college became interested in what was known as the "higher life," and I studied and investigated it for some time. Some of the teaching did not appeal to me, in fact it seemed fanatical, and I saw some inconsistencies in my friends, so I gave up the search for a time. Again, after leaving college and the seminary, I met a few men who convinced me that there was something in Christian experience more than I knew. I studied the Keswick movement in England, and then visited Northfield, the Keswick of America, founded by Mr. Moody for the deepening of spiritual life. With a theology that it was impossible for me to accept, there was mixed a teaching which I found very helpful. I also found there men who met on the common ground of spiritual experience, but there was no harmony of teaching when they came to theology. They all spoke of a "full salvation," and a God who is a very present help in time of trouble, also of the peace and joy of God, but very few of them said anything of the healing of disease.
By persistent endeavor I came to know something of the joy of God as a living presence, and gradually came to see that physical healing was taught in the Bible and was the logical outgrowth of the teaching at Northfield. It was at this stage of my experience that a relative was healed in Christian Science, but I considered it as merely one of the many phases of faith-healing in which was a very large admixture of nonsense. This case of healing was followed by another very remarkable demonstration in my immediate family, and then several friends were healed. With a rather superior air I began quietly to investigate. A paper was written on the topic "Divine Power, How and to What Extent Available." Every phase of faith-healing was studied. I bought every criticism I could find on Christian Science, and collected quite a library, keeping most of it out of sight. I tried to read Science and Health, but it upset so many of my material and theological notions that I frequently threw the book down with annoyance.
