I turned to Christian Science over twenty years ago for physical healing. All my life up to that time I had been afflicted with a disease of the kidneys which was said to have been inherited from my father. It caused me much suffering, and the only hope physicians held out to me was that I might outgrow it. This did not seem to occur, however, as I had grown to womanhood and the condition had not left me. I was a member of an orthodox church, and read and loved the Bible, but did not understand it and never expected to have its promises fulfilled in this world.
One day a sweet-faced woman came into my place of business. In the course of conversation I mentioned to her how my thought had been uplifted by a philosophy set forth in a certain book I was reading. She listened patiently, then said gently, "I know something better than that." I asked her what it was, and she said, "Christian Science." Then she told me about its healing power, and how she, being a practitioner, had witnessed many healings. I said, "Can you heal me?" She answered, "No, but God can."
I arranged to go to this practitioner for treatment; and I shall never forget my first visit to her office, the love that was expressed there, and how, when I told her my trouble, she explained to me that God is my only real Father and that I can inherit from Him only the qualities that are like Him. She gave me a copy of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, to take with me, and after reading the first sentence I knew it was the truth I had been yearning for; and I have never doubted it all these years. It was probably a year and a half before I awoke to the joyful realization that I was healed. During this time, through the constant reading and study of the textbook and the other works of Mrs. Eddy, I had gained a little understanding of the fatherhood of God and my relationship to Him. As this light dawned upon my thought, the darkness called disease was dispelled. Another cause for gratitude was that not only was I freed physically, but I saw how I had been holding my father under this false claim of disease; and so I was able to free my thought. For the first time I understood something of the meaning of the commandment to honor our father and our mother.
