My first recollection of hearing Christian Science mentioned was when I was a small child and my mother repeated an explanation as given to her, that the material body is not the real man. Many times thereafter, when I was growing up, I pondered that statement and made an effort to reconcile it to reason.
After my home was established, my nearest neighbor proved to be a student of Christian Science. During a trying experience, when the end seemed near as the result of a kidney infection, she sent me notes containing passages from the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. Among these was one found on page 14: "Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual,—neither in nor of matter,—and the body will then utter no complaints. If suffering from a belief in sickness, you will find yourself suddenly well." I made a special effort to understand this quotation. At that time medical treatment had been discontinued by the attending physician, since there seemed no hope of recovery. Contrary to expectation, I was able to leave the hospital in a very few days. I did not, however, take up the study of Christian Science at that time.
Another illness befell me a year or two later. This time surgery or radium treatment was recommended. Instead of consenting to an immediate operation, I borrowed the Christian Science textbook and read it for a comforting message rather than with any hope of healing. At the end of the first reading I had to admit that it meant little to me. I made a second attempt to get more of the meaning, for I knew other people had been benefited, and it seemed the book must do the same for me if understood. During the second reading of the book the meaning began to unfold to me, and at the same time physical healing gradually became evident. It was a slow healing, and I have always been grateful for the extra study this necessitated on my part, for it resulted in greater understanding.
