BEFORE I had any knowledge of Christian Science I would in time of trouble turn naturally to God in prayer and felt many prayers were answered, but the fearless prayer of affirmation has been revealed to me through Christian Science. There came a time when I was threatened, the doctors told me, with paralysis. A peculiar condition developed in the little finger and gradually spread throughout the entire left side. I woke in dread of the suffering and went to sleep in the midst of it. I had massage treatment, hot and cold sprays, electrical treatment, gave up all special activities, and was under the care of doctors for six months, growing worse all the time. One evening a Christian Science practitioner came in with my brother, who was her neighbor, and finding me in tears lovingly asked if I did not want to try Christian Science.
I had felt most bitterly opposed to this religion and would tolerate no one talking to me on the subject, thinking I had too much intelligence to be influenced in such a manner. I therefore thanked the practitioner, but thought I would not consider it; however, after she had gone my family urged me to see her, saying I had tried everything else and it could do no harm at least. I shall always gratefully remember the complete mental change as I went to this woman's home two days later. Every sense of opposition had vanished in a humility which prayed that if there were good in Christian Science nothing in my thought might obstruct its operation in me. I had but one treatment for this trouble, so complete and permanent was my healing, and that was six or seven years ago. Soon afterwards I was healed of a cold so that I was able to sing with perfectly clear voice at an amateur performance, whereas the day before at rehearsal my voice was so husky even in speech that I could scarcely be understood. This was a demonstration of that "perfect love" which "casteth out fear."
In the intervening years we have had in our family healings of asthma, bowel disorder, abnormal birth conditions, acute lung trouble, sick headaches, financial and business difficulties, the results of accidents, and many other things too numerous to mention. One healing I would like to mention particularly. A young man in our family, while at work, upset a bottle of sulphuric acid over both arms. The flesh immediately puffed up, and he was rushed to the house physician, who bandaged the arms and sent him home. He had been suffering intensely for a few hours when one of the family, coming home from business, asked if he wanted help in Christian Science. He was glad to accept the offer, and from the moment the treatment was given he was entirely free from discomfort in the arms. The following day was Sunday, and on Monday he had to report to the physician, owing to office regulations. What the physician saw when he removed the bandages so amazed him that he called in a neighboring physician to see the arms. There was not a blister nor a broken spot on them—the only evidence of the trouble visible being a slightly deeper color to the flesh. The boy's clothes, however, were full of holes where the acid had touched them.
