It is now a good many years since a dear friend brought "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy from the public library for me to read. For months I had been recuperating from an illness, taking beef tea daily, hoping to regain strength. While I was reading the chapter on Prayer, a great sense of peace and freedom came over me, and with it I realized renewed strength. My one desire was to purchase a copy of this book. Small amounts were set aside for this purpose and the purchase was made. Soon I became a regular attendant at the Christian Science services in a small church. Then came a change that took me across the ocean, where I continued to attend Christian Science services.
For a number of years I had been subject to attacks of severe pain in one side. These would come on most frequently while I was out walking, often necessitating my resting on the doorstep of the nearest house, when the pain would subside, allowing me to walk another block or two; then slowly it would return and I could not stand up straight. I had never been robust, and it was believed that the condition had been caused by straining myself in girlhood.
One day a physician was consulted, and an operation was prescribed. Reluctantly I consented. That evening, in prayer, I placed the matter before God, and I opened Science and Health at page 1 and read to the next page. When I read the words, "God is Love," I had the most uplifted feeling, a sense of infinite peace. Every morning and evening, at the same hour, I read those two pages. Five weeks had been allowed for rest before the operation, but as our dear Leader says, "God rests in action" (Science and Health, p. 519). Those five weeks were most active. The day before the one on which I was to enter the hospital, the two physicians arrived at the house. After an examination, they were astonished to find an operation would not be necessary. A complete healing had taken place, and this healing has been permanent. The book for which I had saved pennies, nickels, and dimes, now saved me from a major operation. Through the study of Christian Science and the loving help of a practitioner I have since had other beautiful healings, and divine protection.
