When the light of Christian Science was first thrown upon me, over fourteen years ago, I was, like Paul, almost blinded by it. St. John's statement, "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not," was true of me. I could not comprehend this Science, therefore I could not believe it. I at once turned to the Bible with new zeal, guided, however, with the thought that I could there find verses which would disprove the claims of this new religion; but the more I searched for that which would overthrow Christian Science, the more I found of that which sustained it. I studied day and night, in the most careful manner, and at the end of three months I had become a full believer in Christian Science, although I had not experienced a single healing. I had not even sought one, for my desire for spiritual benefits had, from the first dawn of the light, outweighed all else. The Bible became a new book to me. How I reveled in its pages! The dark places were illumined, and "the old, old story" became dear and precious in a new and fuller sense. The Ten Commandments were fraught with new meaning. The story of the children of Israel, — their bondage in Egypt and the divine deliverance therefrom; the story of Noah and the ark; of Jacob's wrestling with the angel; of Daniel in the lions' den, — all carried new and greater import, for I found them typical of the temptations, bondage, struggles, and deliverances in my own life. And then the New Testament! How beautiful, with this new understanding, became the life, teachings, and works of our Master!
As I gained in understanding, it seemed natural for me to begin to put into practice the little I knew, just as the child who is learning the rules of mathematics begins to apply them in the solution of problems. I had been subject to headaches for years, the physicians never assuring me of a cure. One day, during a severe attack of this trouble, I found myself very naturally thinking that God had created only the good; He had not created headache, and such a thing did not belong to His image. It was a simple, childlike declaration of the truth, but the headache disappeared at once, and it has not returned in over fourteen years.
After several more months had passed, I discovered that an old trouble, said by the physicians to be an affection of the knee-joints, had completely vanished. This ailment had troubled me from birth. I did not walk until I was over two years of age, and up to the time of my healing was seldom free from intense suffering in the knee-joints. Electricity had failed to help me, and the physicians had nothing else to offer, and prophesied that I would eventually become helpless. For this healing, and for the many blessings that I have received each succeeding year. I am truly grateful to God.
