When Christian Science was presented to me seventeen years ago, I was a very weak and sickly woman, with an internal displacement which caused me great physical pain and distress. I also suffered from constipation and indigestion. I had consulted two doctors about the displacement, one of whom strongly advised an operation. This I refused to have.
In the spring of 1919 I received a letter from a relative, telling me of a healing she had experienced through Christian Science, and begging me to find a Christian Science church and try it for myself. I did so, and attended a Wednesday evening testimony meeting. I was so much impressed by the testimonies which I heard, and by the peaceful atmosphere of the whole service, that I borrowed the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, and commenced to read. In a very short time I was healed of the indigestion and constipation.
The displacement, however, was not healed so readily, but as I read and reread the textbook I began to realize that I was suffering as the result of wrong thinking, of fear, anxiety, resentment, and criticism—mental conditions which needed to be eradicated in order to gain my physical freedom. Then began a time of uprooting many mental weeds and replacing them with spiritual qualities such as patience, kindliness, forgiveness, and love. Slowly, then, my physical condition began to improve and the healing was complete. This took many months of faithful endeavor; but through it all, the statement on page 79 of Science and Health, "Science must go over the whole ground, and dig up every seed of error's sowing," was a great encouragement to me.
