Toward the end of an inspiring article entitled "Loyal Christian Scientists" by Mary Baker Eddy, we read (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 279), "It is the love of God, and not the fear of evil, that is the incentive in Science." The application of this inspired statement and the rich ideas it conveys, healed me of smoking cigarettes. I had smoked twenty to thirty cigarettes each day during four or five years, smoking those guaranteed not to trouble the throat or cause coughs, and sometimes those which were medicated or supposed to have the nicotine removed. I quickly found, however, that I had a cough and throat trouble. This was fear's penalty, which did not surprise me, although I tried mentally to destroy my fear of penalty. I was then a student of Christian Science but had not seen the necessity of the higher standards which it demands.
I had help in Christian Science from a practitioner, but I still carried more of "the fear of evil" than of "the love of God." The help was only temporary. Two other practitioners worked on the problem for me, but the complete healing was not apparent. I was not happy to give up this bad habit and really did not want to be healed.
The desire to be healed came later. I was seriously ill with the grippe and a practitioner was working for me. I was making progress along several lines while this healing was taking place and remarked one day, "I am at least glad that I do not want to smoke." As my healing of the grippe continued, I found that I was more grateful because I loved good and did not fear evil—I did not fear the cigarette habit. I continued to insist on my love of good, which was an actuality and not an artificial state of thinking, and the two complete healings came together—that of the cigarette habit being much more important to me than that of the grippe.
