Christian Science has brought me greater freedom. As I look back over a period of nine years, liberation from the bondages of atheism, hatred, fear, and sin stand out as milestones.
During my school years I grew skeptical about my earlier religious training, and soon found myself drifting into atheism because I could not rationally believe in a God who made man capable of sin according to the account in the second chapter of Genesis, and then punished him for yielding to an overwhelming temptation. The Bible became a closed book, and prayer seemed more than useless. In this state of mind I groped about until the death of my first child. The shock and grief were almost unbearable. In my extremity Christian Science was presented to me. The teaching of the nature of God as Love attracted me, and I began to attend the Wednesday evening testimony meetings and to read the periodicals.
Hatred in the specific form of intolerance toward other religions and their followers was overcome through an earnest endeavor to fill my place as a member of a branch church. As I pondered Mrs. Eddy's definition of "Church" on page 583 of the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," the realization came to me that in reality there is only one Church, the invisible "structure of Truth and Love." All are striving for the same goal—heaven or harmony—and every act born of Truth or Love constitutes true service in this invisible Church. As this thought flooded my consciousness with light and joy I could see that God knows only how much of love we entertain and necessarily reflect toward our fellow man, and I realized that this all-inclusive Church embraces all who love good, even all mankind.
