On page 10 of "Rudimental Divine Science" Mrs. Eddy states that "mortal ills are but errors of thought, —diseases of mortal mind, and not of matter, for matter cannot feel, see, or report pain or disease," and this has been abundantly proved to me from the moment that my rebellious attitude toward Christian Science was abandoned. At the time when I consented to listen to this wonderful teaching I was despairing of ever being well again. For nearly two years I had been medically treated in London for heart trouble and neurasthenia; after a partial recovery followed by a along sea voyage there was another complete breakdown. At this point the doctor told me that I would have to go to a nursing home for a lengthy period; but in that time of utter loneliness a voice seemed to say to me more than once, Why not try Christian Science? Even then, though my antagonism to the subject was much diminished, I had no confidence that it could bring me physical healing, and when a friend offered to introduce a practitioner to me, I expressed myself as only willing to see her if she came without any delay whatever. This she did, and I shall always be grateful for that immediate and loving response to my despairing, though outwardly peremptory, call. That night came the first undisturbed sleep I had had for years, and the next day I resumed my usual activities, to the great astonishment of my friends.
With the exception of one relapse at the end of a fortnight, there has been no recurrence of the maladies. But the way in which that belief of relapse disappeared is worth recording, since it may help others under similar depressing conditions. That morning I was feeling particularly dejected at the reappearance of the old symptoms, and disinclined to take any exertion. There was to be a Christian Science lecture in the evening to which it had been my intention to go, but a friend who was with me did her best to dissuade me from making an effort which she thought would be prejudicial to my health. Her arguments were much to my liking, and yet underneath I knew I should end by going. It was so. I listened to every word of the lecture with close and peaceful attention, leaving the hall radiantly happy and well. For this healing I am deeply grateful, but it stands for very little beside the freedom and spiritual perception that have come to me with an ever closer study of that priceless book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. It is, indeed, a key that unlocks the treasures of the Bible, revealing a God who is omnipotent and omnipresent good, whose word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Christian Science has shown me how to come out of the lowlands of matter into the high places of spiritual understanding, and so it has given me a religion which is as rational and practical as it is boundless in its scope. All I can say in gratitude and praise for the joy and peace that have come to me is inadequate to express my deep thankfulness to our revered Leader for her consecrated life and work.— Headley, Epsom, England.
