With profound gratitude I express my appreciation of Christian Science for what it has done and what it is doing for me. By reading the precious works of Mary Baker Eddy, particularly Science and Health, my life has been changed to one of peace and happiness.
I first became interested in Christian Science at the beginning of the World War in 1914. Fear and superstition, encouraged in my former religion, together with the wasting of my substance in riotous living, had brought me to a hopeless state and a complete nervous breakdown. This experience seemed very real to me, and the belief of heredity made it worse. At the time I had the privilege of knowing a family who were interested in Christian Science, and the joy and happiness that they always expressed showed me the light. The time came when I needed to know a new way to live, having lost all faith in religion of any kind, and having nothing to lean upon. While in this deplorable mental state, I wandered into a Christian Science Reading Room, asked the attendant what to read, and was told to read Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. I opened the book, and the following lines (Pref., p. vii), "To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings," convinced me that I had found the truth.
I was then taken to a Christian Science practitioner, and while in her office I made a statement to her that it was easy for her to know the truth. She assured me at once that I could just as readily know the truth as she could. I was astonished that she should say this, and I was instantaneously healed. She understood me to be, in reality, the divine image and likeness of God, as she understood herself to be. She saw the perfect man so clearly that I was freed.
