In the late summer of 1940 I was suddenly taken ill with an ailment which defied the diagnoses of six physicians. Each doctor arrived at a different conclusion, and each specified a different treatment, with the result that, by the end of a month, I was taking thirty-three medicines daily. Besides, I had been ordered to adhere to a very restricted diet. Yet each day I grew worse.
I had known several Christian Scientists intimately for a number of years, and finally in utter desperation I asked one of them for his honest opinion about the application of Science to my need. I was assured that illnesses of every sort had yielded to Christian Science, but was urged to decide my course for myself. Since I had always been agnostic in my attitude toward religions, it was a most difficult decision to reach. Several days later I visited a practitioner to discuss Christian Science, but only with the most academic intentions, not feeling disposed actually to go into it. The practitioner talked with me for an hour or so, but left the matter entirely to my own decision.
I returned to my home still confused and skeptical. Finally, I called the practitioner for an appointment, discharged the physicians, and, still more than a little uncertain, determined to sink or swim with Christian Science.
