My introduction to Christian Science did not come through healing, although I was greatly in need of healing at the time. In 1926, after I had submitted to an operation in the hope that it might correct a condition which had given me trouble for some years, it was found that the condition had not been corrected, and it seemed necessary to return to the hospital for observation. After being examined by various physicians and having many X-ray pictures made, I was told that the only way for me to find relief was to go on a very restricted diet for an indefinite time. I returned home and for two years adhered closely to the diet laid out for me, without improvement in health. In fact, I was unable to carry on my business or get around much during this period because of emaciation and weakness.
About this time a friend, not a Christian Scientist, said that since I liked biographies, and had a great deal of time for reading, I might enjoy "The Life of Mary Baker Eddy" by Sibyl Wilbur. I did not immediately accept this idea because of prejudice toward what I thought Christian Science to be. This friend stated, however, that apart from any religious significance the book might have, it was an interesting account of the life of a remarkable woman.
The book was procured for me and I found it so interesting that a desire was aroused to know more about this woman and her work. The Christian Science textbook had been in our library for more than twenty years, but no member of our family was familiar with it. I resolved to read it in order that I might learn more about this remarkable woman. I read the book through three times without talking with anyone about it. Much of it I did not understand, so it occurred to me to go to one whom I knew to be a student of this book and ask to have certain parts of it explained. This one directed me to a Christian Science practitioner; and with her loving help the unreasoning prejudice was healed, and I found myself eager to know more about this beautiful interpretation of the teachings of Christ Jesus. Gradually I became conscious of the beginning of understanding, and with understanding came healing, as it always does. The diet was forgotten and I began to eat anything for which I cared. I continued to read and study, and soon regained my normal weight and strength, and was again able to attend to my business. Somewhere along the way I lost the desire for tobacco, to the use of which I had been addicted since boyhood; also the desire for social drinking left me. These and other undesirable habits dropped away almost without my realizing that they were gone. Broken arches, for which I had worn specially prepared shoes for some years, were healed; also severe headaches which, at irregular intervals, had long incapacitated me. I have also been healed of influenza and many other ailments.
