Joyfully and gratefully I bear testimony to the healing power of Christian Science. I was dwarfed and sickly from childhood, and at the age of fifteen a mental blackness, misery, and fear of almost everything, even of insanity, settled upon me. During the years of mental and physical suffering which followed, I sought eagerly to keep the short glimpses of peace and happiness which occasionally came, but could not. Cherished plans and ambitions were given up, and my only hope seemed to be to conceal my mental condition from family and friends, and later from my employers, as it seemed necessary for me to earn my living. The aid of physicians was asked only in rare emergencies, as I knew they could not help the mental condition and could give only temporary relief for the physical ailments, and I feared even them. All my religious teaching and study of the Bible gave no comfort, but rather added to my wretchedness.
A few years ago, after a long illness followed by an operation which seemed to mean the end, the turning point came when a copy of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy was placed in my hands for the first time. Its message brought immediate and permanent help. After reading and studying this book, together with the Bible, for six months, and attending Christian Science services, I was truly "born again," mentally and physically, and rejoiced in hope, courage, and happiness.
A few years later a severe testing time came to prove my gratitude for the many blessings received. To know and to do what was right in this crisis was humanly impossible, as it meant humiliation and censure, the severing of what seemed to be the dearest ties of affection, and the giving up of fondest hopes. Through the courageous, faithful help of a Christian Science practitioner my stand for the right was taken and maintained, although for a time my health, supply, and even sanity seemed slipping away, and happiness was gone. My loyalty to Science saved me from disaster which could not otherwise have been foreseen or avoided, and out of the struggle, which lasted for only a few months, came a joy and peace never known before. Today I rejoice in this proof that "sorrow is not the master of joy" and that "man is not material; he is spiritual" (Science and Health, pp. 304, 468).
