The first mention of Christian Science that I can recall was one of ridicule made by a little group of people ignorant of the subject. The Psalmist says, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee;" and this was indeed proved true in my case, for to test the justice of the remarks I promptly purchased a copy of Mrs. Eddy's textbook, the title of which I did not know until it arrived—"Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."
That was the turning point in my life, leading me to health; and with it to a larger sense of happiness and of work. A condition of the throat with constantly recurring ulcers, accompanied by excessive fatigue and lassitude, a condition that had defeated for twenty years the skill of many doctors and an eminent throat specialist, was healed through the study of the textbook and the treatment lovingly given by a practitioner. I had never been strong, and my repeated efforts to take walks, ride, and play tennis, had always been discouraged by the extreme fatigue that followed; but now I have complete freedom from any ill result following my activities. An internal displacement, pronounced by two doctors to be incurable, has been cured by Christian Science. This healing was positively proved at the time of the harmonious birth of my youngest child. The birth was painless, and it was a revelation to me, very different from the experiences attending the birth of my elder children.
Just to feel really well, and to be in a position to help the distressed, would in the past have been an ideal the attainment of which would have been ample cause for my thankfulness, but to-day my gratitude far exceeds that thought of thankfulness: it is a deep and boundless gratitude for health that is more than physical, a religion that I can live, and a point of view of life that shows me what Jesus' words mean as quoted in Science and Health (p. 37): "Hear these imperative commands: 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect!' 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature!' 'Heal the sick!'"
