For a year after I had seen the truth of Christian Science in action and acknowledged it, I maintained that so far as I was concerned there was nothing wrong with smoking tobacco and I was quite happy to partake of both Science and tobacco. I did find, however, that I became irritated while listening to testimonies given at Wednesday meetings by people who stated they had been healed of the smoking habit.
A few months after the arrival of our first child I discovered that when I came into close proximity with the baby, I would first dispense with whatever I was smoking. On asking myself why I should take this action, I saw that I looked upon this child as a reflection of purity and felt that tobacco smoke and such a reflection were no part of one another. Purity I found to be Christlike; smoking I found to be error. I still continued to smoke, however, as I found it difficult to stop.
Within a few weeks of this revelation I was confined to bed, a very unusual occurrence for me, with a severe throat affection which necessitated my calling for help from a Christian Science practitioner. This help was lovingly given, but my throat grew worse. A pipe was out of the question, cigarettes tasted revolting, and in any case it gave me considerable pain to smoke. There was obviously only one thing to do and that was not to smoke. In a few days the healing of my throat and of the smoking habit was complete. All desire to smoke had left me. This took place ten years ago, and although I had been considered a heavy smoker, I have not smoked since.
