I feel a close relationship with those men and women whose testimonies compose the last chapter of our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by our revered and beloved Mary Baker Eddy, for like many of them I long ago received a healing at my first reading of that unique and remarkable book.
A serious trouble with my eyes had threatened to end my scholastic career. I had spent the previous year as an undergraduate in a large western university. During that year the trouble, which had bothered me all through high school, became so serious that I could carry on only with the greatest difficulty. Faced with this serious condition, I consulted a reputable oculist in that city and asked for his frank advice. After the examination, he told me that I would be able to use my eyes very sparingly and that I would have to nurse them along. He dismissed me with that statement and without prescribing any remedy, for he found the lenses I was wearing correctly adjusted. The sense of irritation and strain was extreme, and my eyes were bloodshot most of the time.
I managed to complete the year's work and then took a job at manual labor during the summer, not knowing what else to do and wondering what the future would disclose. The following November relatives of mine, who were living in a small western town, recommended me for the principalship of the local school, the building having been belatedly completed and no one retained for the position. I accepted, hoping to be able to get along. But the attendance was large and the staff limited, so we all had heavy schedules, and in a month or two the condition of my eyes became more severe than ever. The inflammation and strain made it impossible for me to read for more than a few minutes consecutively; therefore I employed one of my more advanced pupils to read over the lessons of the following day to me, while I listened with my eyes covered. After a few weeks I realized that I had either to find relief or surrender my position, and having the discouraging advice of the oculist in mind, I decided to resign, feeling sure it would be useless to consult the opticians or oculists further.
