It is with a deep sense of joy that I acknowledge what Christian Science has done and is doing for me. My thought goes back over a period of five years to the time when I, like the prodigal son, was living in a "far country," with only the desire to satisfy my constant longing for material pleasure, and selfishly seeking every possible means whereby I might continually enjoy what the world calls a good time. I seemingly attained this end; but my health broke down, and I became ill both physically and mentally. For three years I sought relief in various systems of healing without success; and at last I was driven to despair.
In this desperate condition, and as a last resort, I turned from the husks of materiality to Christian Science. I knew practically nothing about it, but had heard in a church in England, of which I was a member, that Christian Scientists were a body of religious fanatics in America, whom it would be well for me to avoid; but the day I found Christian Science I now reckon as the happiest of my life. It was the turning point out of that "far country"—out of the land of material bondage—"into the land of Christian Science, where fetters fall and the rights of man are fully known and acknowledged," as Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 226, 227). That was the happy day I ceased to worship the unknown God of creeds and dogmas, and found the Christian Science God, who is Life, Truth, and Love.
I have found that the road a Christian Scientist must travel to gain health and freedom is not always an easy one: it is, rather, the straight and narrow path; but in it is found a wonderful sense of that contentment and peace which the world cannot give or take away. I am sincerely grateful for the countless blessings that have come to me through the earnest and faithful study of this beautiful yet simple truth, among them a permanent physical healing. I am grateful for membership in The Mother Church; for our Church Manual, wherein we find rules that, if strictly obeyed, will solve every problem we are called upon to meet; for the growth of the Christian Science movement, what it is and what it stands for, and to know that it is founded on the Rock, Christ, Truth. It would be indeed impossible for me to express the gratitude I owe to our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, who in her great love for God and humanity has revealed this truth to the world; and I know no greater happiness than to be numbered among the countless thousands who call her blessed.
