By the time I had left home for professional training in a large city, I had received a basic appreciation of Christian Science in the Sunday school. As a result, I was both ready and willing to continue attending the Sunday school regularly in the new locality, and later to become a member of the Christian Science church there. At this time I began the faithful daily reading of the entire Lesson-Sermon outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly. Hitherto I had studied but one section each day. With the protecting influence of the home circle removed, a greater self-reliance had to be developed.
During this time there were temptations. The first was a suggestion that prestige would be gained among my friends if I acquired the smoking habit. When I tried it, I found not satisfaction but unpleasantness. Later, when the Prohibition Amendment was repealed, I was tempted to taste and see for myself. That, too, proved disagreeable indeed. The inability to find anything desirable in either of these habits was the result of the early training I had received in the Sunday school and of the watchful guidance received at home, where our Sunday school and church work were always considered of first importance.
With further unfoldment of Truth in my consciousness, the habits of drinking coffee and tea were eliminated. I enjoyed the drinking of the former but had compelled myself to acquire a taste for the latter in an Oriental atmosphere. The time arrived, however, when coffee became distasteful. I tried various ways of preparing it, but none yielded satisfaction. When this became apparent, I realized that the habit was dropping away from me and I let go my hold upon it. There was no effort made in this direction; it simply was no longer part of my experience. At the same time I stopped drinking tea.
