I have neglected all too long the duty and privilege of recording some of the great benefits that have accrued to me through Christian Science.
In my youth I was closely connected with the Church of England, being confirmed therein and serving as a chorister for some ten years. I am grateful for this experience, and particularly for the intimate knowledge of the Psalms and other spiritual songs I gained through it. Whatever understanding of religion was implanted in me, however, failed to withstand the stresses of independent life, and I developed very strong objections to what I conceived Christianity to be. The miracles, for instance, seemed to me infractions of immutable laws, and I concluded that they must be superstitious legends. Also, I rebelled hotly at the unfairness of salvation being made dependent on belief in Jesus Christ when, from causes not within their control, such belief was impossible to so many.
Eventually, the logic of materialism drove me into atheism, the existence of a Supreme Being appearing to be utterly incompatible with the myriad evils in the world. As for the faculties of man, I looked upon them, even the noblest, as the flame of a candle doomed sooner or later to be extinguished. I sought everywhere for escape from hopelessness, but always with ultimate disappointment until I learned of Christian Science. Every other theory involved some sort of dualism of mind and matter, but Mary Baker Eddy's unequivocal teaching that Mind is substance and matter only a misconception made me think that I might have everything upside down, as indeed I had. After a long and painful mental struggle, I acknowledged this to be the case and set out to comprehend, if I could, something of the infinite idea which is the expression of Mind. My quarrel with Christianity was, of course, over; I could see how, if Mind were substance, His ideas could correct material beliefs and produce the wonders called miracles, and it was clear also that the progressive demonstration of good, as exemplified in Christ Jesus, is the one way of salvation for the individual and the human race.
