In the year 1895 I first heard of Christian Science. I was told by a friend that a lady by the name of Mary Baker Eddy who lived in Concord, New Hampshire, had discovered Christ Jesus' method of healing the sick, and had named her discovery Christian Science. I was some-what doubtful of the correctness of such an unusual statement and claim, so I answered that it was best to be careful and to beware of possible falsity in such an important matter. I was then reminded that anything that was not familiar and therefore not understood could not be rightly judged without studying the subject.
Furthermore, that if I wished to find out for myself, it could be done by studying the textbook of Christian Science. This sounded like good sense, so I bought the book and began to read it, but with the determination not to have anything to do with it if it taught anything that to my sense was not right or good. I read evenings after finishing my work, but, try as I might, I could find no fault with the book. There were things that were not clear to me, but there were also things that were clear; also the more I read the clearer it became, until I could say that it taught a higher sense of pure living than I had ever known, although I had been brought up in an orthodox religion. When I had read the book through I found that the tobacco habit had left me. I had used tobacco for many years, and had often tried to get rid of the habit, but had failed every time until then. The healing has been permanent.
Two years later I had a physical healing which gave me more confidence and faith in God's power to heal without material means. One of my knees had begun to swell and pain me to an alarming degree; also it became difficult to bend it. I attempted to heal this by declaring the truth about it, but I was quite fearful, and the condition became worse. So I went to a Christian Science practitioner, who took up work for me. There was no apparent change that day, but I slept during the night and in the morning found that I was completely healed.
