About ten years ago I had an intimate friend in New York who had recently been confirmed in one of the city's so-called fashionable churches. Several years earlier, in another city, I was confirmed in a church of the same denomination. Both of us were inclined to pride ourselves on our religious connections, although I must confess that I was far from a consistent churchgoer. One Sunday my associate, who was ordinarily reserved and deliberate in his demeanor, burst in upon me and joyfully announced that he believed he had found the truth; but when told he had that morning attended a Christian Science church upon the invitation of a friend, I was shocked, primarily because he had so soon permitted himself to be induced to attend a church of another denomination, and secondarily because he had admitted that anything good could be found in the teachings of Christian Science.
One evening several weeks later I sat at table telling some friends and acquaintances about my futile efforts to obtain relief from a severe attack of what appeared to be both bronchitis and laryngitis. For nearly a week I had not spoken above a whisper and had coughed distressingly. Presently an elderly lady from an adjoining table spoke to me as she passed and invited me to call on my way out, adding that she had something to say which might lead me to find relief. Later in the evening she told me about many wonderful things that had been done for her and others by a certain method of treatment, the name of which she did not immediately make known. Naturally I was anxiously interested to learn what it was; but when she finally told me that it was Christian Science, my mounting hopes took a decided tumble. Nevertheless, on departing I consented to read a book which she handed to me and which I later found to be "Miscellaneous Writings," by Mrs. Eddy. As I recall the incident, the lady did not then have a copy of the Christian Science textbook which she could conveniently lend me.
Going to my room at about eight o'clock that evening I began to read, and from the outset realized that I was dealing with something more satisfying than I had ever read before. When the book was laid aside I looked at my watch and found to my astonishment that it was three o'clock in the morning. Thoroughly convinced that I, too, had found the truth, I arose from my chair, wrapped in a newspaper all the medicines I had been using on this and other occasions, and disposed of them. I then retired, convinced that if God, good, was omnipotent and omnipresent, nothing else had either power or presence. When I awoke a few hours later I was entirely free from the throat and lung trouble.
