These words of Jesus have always seemed very sad to me: "Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?" Perhaps each of the nine lepers felt as grateful as the one who returned to give thanks, but thought it needless to express their gratitude just then; they were waiting, possibly, for a more convenient season.
After having had God for our only physician for over eight years, and having found Him a very present help in every time of need, I feel deeply grateful for all the benefits received through Christian Science, which came to me in the very darkest hour of my life, when I was crushed by a deep sense of sorrow. I had prayed for one little ray of comfort from the God who had sent the sorrow -to me, as I then believed, but who still held aloof, even getting farther and farther away from me; until, after two months of almost constant prayer, I felt there was neither hope nor God for me in this world. Even then I realized that if I only understood what God and Life really mean, it would help me wonderfully. With this came the thought that perhaps Christian Science would bring the understanding and comfort I needed, so I bought a copy of Science and Health, by Mrs. Eddy, and read it as though my very life depended upon it. Keeping the ribbon marker in place. I would open the book whenever I felt the tears very near to overflowing, and read—not knowing what I was reading more than half the time, and not seeming to understand. Still I clung to it. until I had read it word by word (except for the chapter on Fruitage) three times.
At the end of this time I could not have told what Christian Science is, but how my idea of God and Life had changed, and what a comfort it was to know that God is Life; therefore an ever-present help! So for six months I read the book, and then it occurred to me that a pain back of my ear, which I had had constantly for eight months, was wholly unnecessary. One Sunday morning I decided to write to an aunt in Nebraska (the only practitioner I knew of at the time) for help. My four-year-old boy had been wearing a truss for two years, and thinking that he might as well be treated at the same time, I removed the truss—throwing it away—and wrote the letter, asking for help for both of us.
