When I was in my early twenties I became, as I thought at the time, very much interested in Christian Science. This interest was more of a blind enthusiasm, the letter without the spirit or understanding of the Christ. I discovered in due time—and the importance of this discovery is unfolding to me more and more—that one cannot "put new wine into old bottles; that Truth and error do not mix, and that "Substituting good words for a good life, fair-seeming for straightforward character" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 233), does not heal the sick or reform the sinner.
I gradually drifted away from Christian Science and became immersed in a riot of self-indulgence. Finally the awakening came. One day I found myself seriously ill with a so-called incurable disease. After consulting three physicians and being referred to a prominent specialist for examination and diagnosis, I was told by him that I had a poisonous condition of the blood and that it was constitutional; he stated that as I was young perhaps it would be possible to pull me through, but even so he did not give me more than three or four months to live. My legs were partially paralyzed. I could walk only with difficulty, could neither eat nor sleep, and was in constant pain. I felt desperate because my case seemed hopeless.
This time I turned to Christian Science in earnest, and after one treatment from a practitioner there was a marked change for the better. I became hungry, slept well, and within a very short time every symptom completely disappeared with the exception of the pain, which at times became almost unbearable. My business called me to a distant city, and while I was attending a church service in that city, the pain was so severe that I do not remember having heard the reading. However, I am sure God was present there, because my prayer for help was answered. The chief usher lovingly introduced me to a practitioner. Within a very short time the pain ceased, and in a few months completely disappeared.
