As a young girl I liked very much to read the Bible, especially the New Testament, for I loved and reverenced the character of Jesus. There were many passages, however, which aroused a great sense of fear, as for instance those that referred to hell and eternal damnation. In the years that followed, the health that during childhood had been excellent gradually gave way, and at the time of my marriage was very unsatisfactory. The heart action was troublesome, and I was liable to spells of exhaustion, when it took an effort to move even an arm. There were headaches and acute bowel trouble. All these symptoms I now know to have been the result of the undestroyed fear latent in consciousness.
When my little son was born, the old, torturing doubts awoke with redoubled force, and the question, What shall I teach this child about God and man? was ever uppermost in thought. So, for over a year, the prayer was always in my heart that I might be led to the truth. One day the thought came to me, like a spoken message, Try Christian Science. This thought presented itself again and again; so at length I decided that, though it might be regarded as foolish, I would buy the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, and examine it for myself. I did so; and although I understood very little of what I was reading, yet I felt the benefit, and read persistently a certain number of pages every day. My healing was gradual, the first noticeable sign of it being relief from the fear that had tormented me so long. But I did not yet understand, as I did later, through studying the Bible in connection with our textbook, that hell is merely the result of mortals' own wrong thinking, and that punishment must always follow every wrong thought, as surely as a mistake in mathematics will produce an erroneous answer to a problem. I had already, however, gained the peaceful assurance that I could trust every moment of my existence to a God who is eternally Love.
During two years, as I grew in understanding, the spells of weariness became less frequent and of shorter duration, the headaches slowly diminished, and the heart and bowel action became normal. For all these blessings, and for many more than I can take space to mention now— those that have come to my family and my friends, as well as to myself — I feel that I can best express my gratitude and joy by helping to serve in the great Cause which is to bring peace and health to all mankind. The physical healings are wonderful, but far more wonderful is the spiritual revelation that joy and peace and health are real, and that man is the reflection of infinite, ever present Mind, which is God, good.— Lakewood, Ohio.
