It is now about eight years since Christian Science was first brought to my notice, but it is only of late I have realized that no grateful acknowledgment has been made of the many benefits which I have received from Mrs. Eddy's wonderful discovery. I can well remember the astonishment with which I heard the word Science linked to Christianity, because the two had always seemed so contradictory. I had learned a little of physical science, and there I supposedly had definite knowledge and actual results; but with religion everything was so shadowy and uncertain!
In 1903 I had only recently returned to England from tropical East Africa, where I had been engaged on railway construction for about four years. While there, I was of necessity largely cut off from civilization, and during this period the writings of Emerson had formed most of my serious reading. In the interval of living abroad I had lost a great deal of interest in the more orthodox beliefs of Christianity, although I owed a tremendous debt to my early teaching; but that teaching seemed to be lacking as regards practical application, and I thought there must surely be more vitality in the truth taught by Christ Jesus. This need has been fully met in Christian Science.
On beginning to read Science and Health, I felt almost at once that it must be true. The more I read, the more convinced I was that if the statements in the Bible, and especially the words of Jesus, were true, then Mrs. Eddy's conclusions were the logical outcome of these truths. From the first, therefore, I was convinced, but had a notion that Christian Science was a short cut, as it were, to heaven, and I was slow to realize that we have to "work out" our own salvation, as St. Paul declared. Since taking up the study of Christian Science, the habits of drinking and smoking have left me, and this without any sense of sacrifice on my part. I have been greatly helped, both physically and morally.
