About five years ago I first heard of Christian Science. At that time I was at home under medical treatment. This treatment was looked upon as a last endeavor to free me from blood-poisoning in a severe form, which for two years not only had caused me the greatest distress but also had been a serious handicap in my profession as a violin player. Our old physician, with whom I was on very friendly terms, attended to the case with much devotion, but failed to effect a cure, and finally dismissed me in a slightly improved condition with the remark that my blood was diseased, that there was a tendency with me to be thus afflicted, and that I would have to make up my mind to submit to the trouble.
Just then I received a letter in which my attention was called to Christian Science. My attitude was one of distrust, however, and I answered accordingly, saying that I had never heard of Christian Science, and that I certainly would never think of going into anything of that nature without being fully convinced of its truth. Upon my return to Berlin, and after the rather disconcerting verdict of all the physicians whom I had consulted, I began to attend the Christian Science services and to read the Herold, at first scrutinizing and weighing what I read, but afterward gaining confidence, which finally led to the clear recognition that this was the right course, that Christian Science was indeed the truth.
I would like to mention here that Christian Science attracted me in the first place as a religion. It was not until later that I received a few absent treatments, which by the way were always attended by immediate results. In the beginning I put entirely aside all question of treatment, as I still had a sense of fear with regard to what I thought might be an outside influence, for my earnest desire was to be able to think and act entirely from within and to arrive quite freely at my conclusions. While working on and assimilating this teaching, every thought of fear gradually disappeared, as well as the sense of distrust mentioned, and at the same time everything that had seemed to cause me so much sorrow and pain.
