Several years ago, when I was visiting my mother and sisters, I was stricken suddenly with a spasm of pain in my side and stomach. It was so intense that I seemed to be unable to think clearly. In fact I felt quite helpless and afraid.
I had been a student of Christian Science for a number of years, and during that time I had experienced very little physical difficulty. Fearing that the situation was critical, and because I was unable to work for myself in Christian Science, I called a practitioner who lived in a distant city. His words of comfort and encouragement will never be forgotten. I instantly dropped all sense of burden and anxiety, and peace reigned in my consciousness. The pain did not subside at once, but all fear did. I became so weak that I could not lift the Bible or the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, to read them, but I could lift the Journal and Sentinel, and the testimonies in them were so helpful and encouraging that I shall always be grateful that our Leader established these periodicals for our use. I was able to sing the hymns sometimes to myself, and the comfort which I received from their words was unlimited.
My mother and sisters were not Christian Scientists, but my mother offered no objection when I first called the practitioner. However, at the end of two weeks I had become so weak and exhausted from pain that they became quite concerned. After a consultation among themselves, they decided that I should be taken to a hospital. My mother had succumbed to a sense of fear and worry, and she and my sisters felt that something in the way of material aid should be given, as they were convinced, after several talks with a physician in which they described my physical condition to him, that I had a burst appendix and was at the point of death.
