When Christian Science came to me I was very ill with lung trouble, and the doctor said there was no hope for me. A friend then sent me a copy of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy. I knew not even one word of the English language, but I wished to know what sort of a book this was, so read it with the aid of a dictionary, looking up every word. In three weeks the doctor said my heart was a little better, and after two years I was very much better, but not quite healed. By this time I could read Science and Health and understand much of its teaching; but because it asked too much of me, because it was difficult to give up what seemed then to be my happiness, I tried to drop the study. The book was put in the bookcase; but the truth worked in me and showed me my mistakes. Then when I would not listen the trouble came back and I had to go to a sanatorium.
The doctor at this institution said there was nothing to be done for me. A few weeks later a member of my family, a young clergyman, wrote to me among other things that God sent this illness and that it must be good for me. At once a voice seemed to say: Is it true that God sends you this illness? You know better; it is your self-will, self-righteousness, and disobedience that make you ill. From this moment I began to listen and be obedient to the truth. I wrote a letter asking for Christian Science treatment, but on reading it through found that I had excused myself in it. Accordingly it was torn up and another written, and this was continued until my thought became free from every belief of self-justification, when I sent the letter to a practitioner.
The next morning when the doctor examined my lungs he said there was a chance to recover, and thereafter there was slow but certain improvement. The heart trouble was healed in the following manner. Sometimes I had severe heart cramp, and one evening my breath was very short. My first thought was that if the practitioner were with me I could ask for help. Then came the thought, "If Jesus were but here," and all at once I understood that though Jesus was not here the Christ was always present to help, even as in Jesus' time, and with certainty I knew help had come. I immediately fell asleep and have never had any trouble of this kind since. It is now almost six years since my lungs were completely healed. In these years I have always been quite well, and able to do all my work, also heavy labor.
